Vandread Dual Scorpions
by neongrimcross
Summary: Antares 1 and 2 are one half of the M42 Antares Squadron known for saving the world from the terrorist group Valahia and the greedy Olivieri and his Golden Axe Plan. During a simple mission the two end up in a whole new world entirely where they have to work with new allies against a bigger threat than Vahalia and the Golden Axe Plan while also dealing with their own dark past.
1. Chapter 1

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 1: Prelude to War**

* * *

In an unknown part of space is the planet only known to people as Tarak. Tarak is a desert world that some men on a colonization ship landed on and out of sheer will, determination and hard work they made it inhabitable for themselves. The planet is mainly comprised of men in a caste system. You have the First Class Citizens, who had the best of everything and were the most arrogant pricks one could ever meet. Next are the Second Class Citizens who had average of everything and were either indifferent or a bit arrogant too. Lastly you have the Third Class Citizens who had the worst conditions and were treated like trash by the First and sometimes Second Class Citizens, and they just accepted it.

Today on the Tarak was a big day for them as a big ceremony was about to take place inside the Ikazuchi, the colonization ship and also the Tarak flagship, but it was also the day when something else different would take place.

"…We will destroy the vile women of Mejere and the strength of Men, will destroy them!" The Tarak Prime Minister said as he was making his speech to the other First Class Citizens on the Ikazuchi.

While the speech was still going on a young man was sprinting across the walkways that led to the Ikazuchi, sneaking his way past the area where they held the launch ceremony. As he made his way to the flagship he started to remember the words of his fellow men.

_"Come on Hibiki you know we're only third class citizens."_

_"Try not to do anything too stupid Hibiki!"_

_"All we have to do is be quiet and keep making parts like these and we'll always have food in our bellies."_

_"Don't be so hotheaded shorty. You can't change what we are no matter how hard you try!"_

_"Maybe I am hotheaded."_ The young teen known as Hibiki thought to himself as he climbed a ladder. _"It's just that my blood is screaming, telling me that there's more out there in life."_ More words from his fellow Third Class Citizens returned to him.

_"Forget about it! You gotta know where you stand."_

_"Only dimwits who let emotions get carried away have asinine dreams like that."_

_"If you believe that why don't you prove it? And not just with words but with actions!"_

Hibiki took those words in and steeled his resolve as he continued to climb.

_"Alright I will!"_

Meanwhile back in the Ikazuchi, the bald headed Tarakan bureaucrat continued giving his speech.

"The power it holds will help rebuild the future of our great Empire! The ship that led us to this fatherland, the Ikazuchi has been revived! And our young men have boarded this ship as its new officers. You are the future of Tarak!"

"There is no force in this universe that we need fear with our manly strength!" the Prime Minister boasted.

While the Prime Minister was giving his speech, Hibiki climbed out of an air shaft and sprinted across more walkways and soon came upon a door.

As he went to work he could hear could hear the Prime Minister continuing his speech.

"To repay the great first generation that began with Grand Pa, we must now combine the strengths of the second and third generations!"

Hibiki pulled out a pocket watch shaped device from his satchel clicking it three times with it flashing yellow before placing it on the door. Then he carefully slides a second device into a slot of the first with Prime Minister carrying on all the while.

"And at the moment they become one…our long awaited dreams will come true!" declared the Prime Minister just as Hibiki unlocked the door at that very moment.

Hibiki grinned.

The Minister thumped a fist against his chest. "We all feel it in our hearts! The new breath coming from the Ikazuchi! Look upon him! Praise him! This is the flagship of the Tarak Imperial Army!"

Just then spotlights lit up, illuminating the Ikazuchi for all to see. The crowd went wild.

Prime Minister continued, "You the third generation of Tarak, the first graduates of the Military Academy, were born to board the new Ikazuchi! Congratulations!"

"You have the blood of the first generation flowing through your veins and you are all legitimate brothers to those original eight men! Including our forefather Grand Pa!" he praised to the new cadets and officers.

Hibiki carefully sneaked his way up some stairs and climbed up a ladder under the noses of a couple of off-duty crew members who were watching a T.V. broadcast of the Prime Minister giving his speech.

"As most of you already know, the main objective of our mission is to end the piracy that has been plaguing our borders by the women encircling our realm recently. But do not forget that you are on a battlefield, work diligently and don't allow yourselves to be caught off guard!" he ordered which was followed by a chorus of "Yes sir!".

All the while Hibiki had snuck past the engineering crew as he raced his way down the corridor to the Vanguard hanger.

Hibiki finally arrived at the door panting heavily as he leaned on it. "…Oh man, this ships' a lot bigger than I thought it would be!"

He saw a hand print scanner and pulled out a transparent glove. "It's a really good thing that I haven't left anything to chance." He slipped it on and pulled out a spray can, spraying on glove. "I'd be in real trouble I didn't do my homework."

He pressed his hand to the scanner.

It flashed red.

"Palm print does not match, reenter within thirty seconds." a male electronic voice stated.

"Huh?! N-no way!" he shouted quietly in disbelief.

"Enough time wasted, why wait for the designated hour to arrive?" The Prime Minister said slamming his hand onto the podium. "Wouldn't you agree with me men?" He shouted raising his fist into the air as they followed suit.

"What's that?! He's starting it two hours earlier?!" asked one off-duty crew member as looked at his comrade in surprise and shock.

"Get to your stations!" The head engineer bellowed, causing the rest of the engineering team to scramble to their posts.

"Ten. Nine. Eight..."

"Come on!" Hibiki pressed his hand repeatedly harder into the terminal. "Why is this happening?! I couldn't have screwed anything up, I did everything right this time!" he swung his hand in the air, spitting and blowing on the glove.

"Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three..."

He pressed his gloved palm onto the scanner once more and prayed.

"Two."

The scanner canceled the countdown and unlocked the door, registering his fake palm print as he breathed a sigh of relief. The door opened revealing two rows of Vanguards.

Hibiki smirked triumphantly as he crossed his arms. "Heh, not bad eh? That was a piece of cake."

"Ikazuchi!"

"Ikazuchi!"

The crowd was chanting the warship's name over and over again as the speech continued.

"Your voices have been heard! Allow me to answer your demands with this!" Trumpets began to play as cables and robotic arms we're detached with the ship's systems coming online.

"Huh it's not here! Where is it?" Hibiki was currently walking in between the two rows of machines, looking for the one with the part he marked.

"It's not this one. Not this one."

"Maybe they didn't use the part because of the scratch..." he mused in a depressed voice. Then his eyes lit up as he saw the Vanguard with his mark.

"So that's where you been hiding partner!" he said excitedly as he eyed the machine in amazement, marveling at the finished product of all his fellow third classed citizens. "I gotta say, you're looking pretty impressive."

His eyes gleamed with glee and ran up to the machine. "I'll take you home with me right now!"

"Now launch the Ikazuchi!"

At the Prime Minister's command the thrusters kicked in and began to blast the Tarakan Flagship from its platform. The Ikazuchi had begun its voyage.

Hibiki was climbing the machine he was looking, but before he could even reach the hatch he was slowly being pulled away from the Vanguard.

"W-wait a sec!"

He fell back toward the deck from the force of the Ikazuchi lifting off. He hit the metal floor hard while being partially crushed by the items and crates that weren't tied down.

"W-what happened?" Hibiki muttered.

As the Ikazuchi began its ascendant past the stratosphere, on looking eyes watched with pride and amazement, all except for one elderly farmer working on a crop field.

In a darkened room on Tarak a shadowy figure watched as the Ikazuchi departed for space.

"The time of departure has arrived…" said the unseen man ominously as he clutched the arms of his chair tightly.

The Ikazuchi ejected its lift off thrusters, as Hibiki looked out a window in the Vanguard hanger with panic.

"H-hah hah, w-were going up..." he chuckled with a nervous grin.

* * *

Somewhere in space not far from the planet Tarak, a flash of bright light appeared and disappeared very quickly. In its wake were two different spacecrafts that should not even be in space to begin with since they did not even look like they were designed for space.

The pilot in the craft on the left recovered their consciousness trying to shake the birdies out of her head.

"Ugh! What the hell was that light?" came from the pilot that was feminine, "And by the way where the-Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

After getting a good look out of her cockpit, the pilot saw that she was definitely in space and couldn't believe that her aircraft was even working in space. She then looked to both sides before she sighed in relief after spotting the aircraft next to her own.

"Hey Leader, are you there?"

There was some static before the radio went silent.

"Hey Fenrir are you in the world of the living?"

More static and silence.

"OOIII! FENRIR!"

"YES! YES! YES! I'M HERE! YA TRYING TO TURN ME DEAF, VALKYRIE?!" came from the other pilot known as Fenrir.

"Well since you were not answering, Leader, I had thought you were dead or comatose but I needed to confirm it." Valkyrie deadpanned, "Speaking of which you should look around you."

The male pilot looked around and saw that they were in space and was just as shocked as his fellow pilot though he recovered much faster.

"Judging by the large number of stars I'd say that we're in space." Fenrir said.

"Yeah. I found that out a few seconds ago Captain obvious." Valkyrie deadpanned, "More like you should be asking about who we are even here to begin with?"

"Not to mention how the hell our air crafts are working in space." Fenrir added, "How the hell did we-"

"Sorry to interrupt you but there's a planet in front of us." Valkyrie cut in.

"Really? Well let's go check it out." Fenrir said.

* * *

Hibiki thought his really sucked. He was so close to getting into the Vanguard he wanted to steal and bring back to show off to his fellow Third Class citizens but unfortunately for him the Ikazuchi took off and he fell down to the floor. Worse he was spotted by an audience of First Class citizens and the Tarak Prime Minister during the ceremony aboard the flagship before he fought off some of the security sent after him before getting overwhelmed and thrown into his current cell.

After grunting in pain from being tossed into the cell, Hibiki knelt up and looked at the guards angrily.

"Bastards! Don't just dump me into some storage room! You could at least put me in a real jail!"

The guards simply looked at down at him.

"This cell may be used for storage, but this is still a real brig so simmer down your highness!" one of the guards teased.

"They've decided to give you a public execution, and it won't be a quick and painless one." the second guard informed him with a smirk.

The guard on Hibiki's right turned his head to the side. "I-Type Number 6."

"Beep! Beep!" A small floating egg like robot floated over to them.

"Watch him understood?"

"Beep! Beep! Roger!" the robot replied as it took up its assigned position facing Hibiki in front of the cell.

The guards then left leaving Hibiki alone with the robot.

Hibiki sighed at his current predicament.

"Why do things always get messed up in my life?" he asked himself depressingly. He looked around to make sure the guards we're gone before turning to the robot, hoping to persuade the small pod like machine to let him out.

"Hey partner? Why don't you be a pal and let me out? We were both born in a factory right? So that means we're kinda like brothers right? Huh? Right?" he pleaded as he crawled towards the machine and begged on his and knees.

The machine just continued to float there. "We are composed of completely different materials, therefore the term 'brothers' is incorrect."

Hibiki blink and raised his hands to his sides. "I got this great generator I can install in you if you let me out of here!" he bowed his head and his hands into a lower as he continued to beg.

The robot's screen suddenly popped up a big red X. "Denied! The subject is making an improper request. Instigation of attempted bribery and escape are crimes! Therefore..."

Hibiki looked up in confusion. "Therefore...?" he asked with trepidation.

"...Punishment."

The small machine sent a bolt of electricity towards Hibiki who screamed as he received a painful shock.

Yep! His luck sucked!

* * *

Back in space the two air crafts piloted by Fenrir and Valkryie had gotten a bit closer to planet Tarak and kept their distance from the Tarak fleet they spotted ahead of them.

"Uh...Okay? Are we in a sci-fi movie, Fenrir?" Valkyrie asked in confusion.

"How the hell should I know?" Fenrir replied, "What do you think?"

"I have no freaking idea. That's why I'm asking you."

"Whatever..."

As Fenrir sighed, his radar suddenly began pinging as it showed lots of hits approaching the fleet ahead of them.

"Looks like the fireworks are about to begin." he stated.

"What fireworks? What are you saying?" Valkyrie asked. Her answer came in the form of some futuristic looking ships flew past them and began attacking the Tarak fleet, making the two pilots look in awe at their design.

"Does that answer your question, Valkyrie?"

After recovering from the robot's attack, Hibiki looked up in rage at it and shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Who do you think I am?!"

"Identity scan of subject commencing." The robot answered as its screen then flashed with new codes scrolling down on it.

As Hibiki continued to rant at the small machine, the robot continued scanning his identity for a match in its database. "Scan complete ... You are-"

Before it could finish an explosion caused the robotic guard to lose its balance temporarily, causing it to pitch forward and slam into the cell's laser security grid that immediately short-circuited the robot and the grid's systems along with it. The energy bars remained slightly active though with lower power and intensity.

To the surprise of everyone on the bridge of the Ikazuchi, the command deck shuddered as an explosion rocketed the ship.

"I gave an order to stop the exhibition match!" The Tarak Prime Minister yelled angrily.

"This isn't part of the exhibition!" an officer replied as he was working furiously on his console.

"It's the women their mounting a surprise attack!" cried another with a panicked voice.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"Did I hear that right? The women are attacking?" Fenrir said.

"Looks like a surprise attack." Valkyrie stated.

"Yeah I know. The guys in that fleet already mentioned that." Fenrir deadpanned.

The two watched as many of the sleek, agile and well-designed multi-colored fighters dodged the incoming laser and kinetic fire being directed against them by the blocky Tarakan ships. So far, the Tarak ships were finding it hard to hit the broad side of a barn but easy to hit their own ships as their pulse cannons were too slow to lock on their more nimble adversaries.

"Those are some impressive pilots." Valkyrie commented as she enjoyed watching the flawless piloting skills of the women.

"Agreed. But not as good as you." Fenrir added.

"Thanks for the compliment Leader."

"You're welcome."

At some distance away from the battle, a sleek three pronged red cruiser that served as the main pirate vessel was hiding among a nearby debris field, poised and ready to strike. Though the women on board were ready to intervene they could already see that the Dread squadrons had everything under control. On the cruiser's command bridge, an old woman in robes smiled as she and her silver haired second in command watched the one sided battle.

"Well Captain, it looks like we've caught a big one." the silver haired commander remarked with a smile.

The captain raised her head and smirked.

"Hmm, today seems to be our lucky day."

The Dreads continued to bombard the flagship while the men aboard were in a state of panic. The various laser turrets and artillery guns had little to no accuracy as the Dreads easily weaved through the fire.

* * *

"Escort ship Hijiri has been destroyed!"

"The Maborochi's down to!"

"The Ikazuchi's new sections have been breached!"

"What deplorable tactics! They're hiding in the back ground fire!" The Prime Minister growled in disgust.

The commander next to him turned to the helmsmen. "Level off the Ikazuchi!"

"Send the Vanguards out!" The Prime Minister ordered.

"But the pilots are only trainees sir!" The commander protested.

"If we lose this battle because we don't use our latest weapons, then we'll bring shame to our forefathers!"

From the bulkhead doors of the Ikazuchi, several of the Vanguards managed to make it into the war zone and charged toward the Dreads. However the raw recruits with little combat experience outside of simulators, were flying uselessly in space and were no threat to the Dreads. A few managed to latch onto some of the Dreads as they passed by the Vanguards, but their lack of proper training, experience, or weapons showed as they could do little to nothing to stop the Dreads.

"Hey, what are these things?! They're getting in my way!" shouted a suited Dread pilot as she spotted several Vanguards were pounding their fists on the canopy of her Dread.

"Don't worry about the Vanguard's. Concentrate on the enemy flagship." ordered The Dread team leader in a cool tone as she kept her focus and calm.

"Roger!"

Two of the Dreads accompanied their leader's Dread as they made a strafing run at the Ikazuchi.

"Should we intervene?" Valkyrie asked Fenrir.

"No. This has nothing to do with us. We'll just stay back and watch." Fenrir replied, "However, be ready in case of anything."

In the Ikazuchi the bridge operator noticed something and turned to the Prime Minister.

"Sir. We've got two unknown crafts on the radar. Both signatures unknown."

"Put it on the screen!"

The operator obeyed the order as he displayed the two unknown crafts on the monitor.

The first one was light grey in color and much larger than a Dread. It had a polyhedral cropped delta configuration with bent wingtips, a V-tail, canards, dual air intakes, a mouth-like pod beneath the cockpit and dual thrust vectoring engines, with a smaller power plant between both. The second one was solid red in color and also larger than a Dread. It had a three-surface configuration, an angular body design, forward swept wings, and canted stabilizers.

Already pressured by the chaotic situation they were in, the Tarak Prime Minister rashly thinks that they are part of the Mejerian pirate fleet.

"Attention all Vanguard units, we've found two unknown ships some distance from the fleet. Assume hostile and destroy them!" he ordered.

Hearing the warning alarms in their cockpits go off, Fenrir and Valkyrie looked up to spot the incoming enemy Vanguards coming at them.

"Looks like they finally decided to pick a fight with us." Valkyrie said, "We now have a chance to really test out these new toys."

"Then let's give them hell! Disperse and engage freely, special weapons authorized!" Fenrir ordered.

"Roger that!"

The engines of their jets roared to life and they joined the battle.

Fenrir charged at the first Vanguard approaching him and fired the dual Vulcan Cannons at it, the rounds shredding the poor guy's mech before it blow up. He hears the warning alarm and sees two more Vanguards appear behind him on the radar. He waits then he pulls of a Kulbit, looping behind the over shooting mechs and destroying them with missiles.

_'What a joke. These fools are worse than the rookies at Martinez who actually put up a better fight.'_ He thought as he watched the terrible piloting of the Vanguard pilots.

Valkyrie was grinning right now under her helmet as she spotted six Vanguards coming at her in a line. She switched to her craft's special weapon and lined them up before firing.

"Say hello to my little friend, ass hats!" she said.

The compartment under the cockpit opens up like a mouth and fires an energy beam at the line of unlucky Vanguards, who didn't get a chance to get away from being pierced by the beam and all blowing up in a domino effect.

"How comical! They send 'little boys' after us." Valkyrie mocked, "Antares 2 to Antares 1. We can dodge these fools all day, let's help these women out and go after the ass hats flagship."

"Antares 1 here. Roger, help out any of the women pilots while I deal with the flagship."

"Antares 2 copy."

Valkyrie spots a red dread with three Vanguards latching on it. She tilts her aircraft to the side before getting right behind it. She targets the three Vanguards and shoots them off of her temporary ally with expert precision before breaking away to engage more enemies.

* * *

Back in the Ikazuchi, Hibiki had just hot wired the grid and put out the laser grid to his cell.

"Never underestimate a mechanic's knowledge!" he boasted, grinning in triumph.

He slowly got up and started to run but stopped and turned to look at the small robot that zapped him a bit ago as it with pity as it continued to make a noise, that to him, sounded like someone in pain. He picks it up and takes it with him as he runs out of the brig.

* * *

In space, a Vanguard appears behind a silver dread's tail trying to get a sneak attack on it, only to get blown up by a missile from behind. The pilot of the silver dread looks to her left as Fenrir flies past her towards the enemy flagship. He easily destroys any Vanguard foolish enough to get in his way until a group of them desperately form a blockade near the flagship.

'Your funeral.' he says to himself as he switches to the special weapons and fires an LSWM at the blockade while breaking away. The result is a huge explosion that wipes out the blockade and blows a huge hole in the hull of the flagship.

_'What the hell was that?!'_ The pilot of the silver dread thought in shock of the devastation by that one attack from the craft in front of her before she recovers and orders the other dreads to go in through the hole.

In the Ikazuchi, the alarm sounded as a red light continuously flashed in the corridor.

"INTRUDER ALERT! All able personnel are to proceed to the Hangar Section of the Ikazuchi!"

"What the hell's going on with this place?!" screamed Hibiki as he ran down a hallway while carrying the little robot under his arm. "I gotta get outta here!"

He stopped and leaned against a wall, looking for an escape route. As soon as the order was broadcast, all the guards took off running to help repel the women.

Fenrir regroups with Valkyrie who had just blown up another one of the Tarak escort ships with her plane's energy beam attack.

"What's next, Leader? You've blown a hole in that ship and our 'friends' have gotten into it." Valkyrie asked.

"Hold fire on the enemy flagship for now while we deal with these ass hats." Fenrir replied.

"Roger that Antares 1. I still have enough for them since they can't the broad side of a barn."

* * *

Inside the Ikazuchi's cargo bay and hangar, a switch was turned on to restore gravity to the area.

"Cargo bay gravity restored! Prepare to engage the enemy directly!" shouted a sweating petty officer into the intercom phone, clutching a battle rifle tightly. He turned around just in time to see the canopies of the Dreads opening and Dread pilots disembarking from their craft, moving forward to secure the area. They were dressed in formless space suits and face-mask/helmets with fierce monster designs, made solely to instill fear in their enemies, men.

As the sound weapons fire was heard a blonde man in Tarak uniform suddenly tumbled out of his little hiding place, which was inside the hollow base of the statue of Grand Pa. He then looked in shock at the sight of the monsters he believed to be women.

"T-THOSE THINGS ARE WOMEN?!" he cried out in terror as he saw the enemies of men for the first time.

It was just then that he looked behind him and saw a blue Dread barreling through the hull breach and flying straight at him at breakneck speed while scrapping against the wall. Which were all easy signs of an amateur pilot.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" The blonde screamed as he scrambled back inside the statue. A second later the head of the statue was sliced clean off by the fighter. After it passed the cowardly cadet's head rose through the new opening, revealing a very alive Bart who paled at the near miss.

The deadly firefight continued as the men tried to repel the intruders with their semi-automatic rifles, while the women returned the favor with pink laser fire from their laser rings. The battle was at a standoff as the men were putting up a serious but we're missing their targets for the most part until one of them luckily hit the arm of a woman's suit. The women then looked behind them and saw one of their Dreads flying uncontrollably toward a bulkhead.

"Ahhhh! I can't stop!" screamed the female pilot seeing that she was about to ram into the wall and fired her Dread's weapons in blind panic.

Hibiki was running along a catwalk panting while carrying the robot and trying to find a way out.

"Th-there's no way I'm gonna let myself die in a place like this!" he continued to run until he saw the wall above him being burned through then exploded, blowing the catwalk and him away, losing his grip on the robot, screamed and everything went black.

In the Ikazuchi bridge, a lever rose up from a panel at the bridge commander's panel.

"Minister! Please! You mustn't do this!" the commander begged.

"We can't afford to let the entire ship be captured by our enemy's hands. I must at least save the new section of the Ikazuchi." The Prime Minister said solemnly with his eyes closed and crocodile tears around them while he grabbed hold of the large lever.

One of the bridge crew gulped.

"Before everything falls into the hands of females, I'll separate the old from the new!" he declared.

Without hesitation, he pushed the lever forward. The locks holding together the Ikazuchi detonated and began to detach while the crew on the old section watched in horror as they're abandoned by their leaders with the old section of the ship that was ejected into space.

Panic then ensued.

"What's going on?!"

"The ship's falling apart!"

"What are we supposed to do?!"

The only cadet that showed no surprise or fear of this event was a black haired man who simply narrowed his eyes at what had just happened.

* * *

Hibiki began coming to, lifting his hand to rub his eyes when his hand brushed something. He instinctively grabbed it and squeezed a few times and felt that it was something that was round, warm, and… rather firm yet pliable.

Hibiki then opened his eyes.

"Huh? What the heck is this?" he looked at the round thing curiously then he noticed that it was attached to something…or rather someone. His eyes moved further up and saw a weird mask looking at him.

With a panicked yell he pushed the form on top of him off and began to crawl away. "I-IT'S A MONSTER!"

"Wait!" called a light female voice.

He stopped and looked back to see the thing remove its face ... or rather mask, revealing a beautiful young teen girl with red hair.

She looked at him with glee in her eyes. "Wow! It's a real live alien!"

He stared at the girl like she was insane. "Huh? What...? Alien...?"

She let out a small giggle then raised her hand and made weird gestures, which he figured was her way of greeting so he hesitantly repeated them.

She clasped her hands together with joy.

"I did it! It worked! I made first contact!" she said happily.

He chuckled a bit with that same look as before and grabbed the robot and ran off, jumping on to another catwalk.

"See ya!"

"Wait I want to take a picture!" she said quickly took off her suit and started chasing after him.

Neither of them noticed that the Paksis started glowing ominously at their presence.

* * *

A Tarakan cadet flinched as a laser whizzed by his head and burned a small hole on the wall missing him by a few inches, prompting him to raise his hands up.

"Don't move!" ordered a woman.

"Stay where you are!" commanded a second.

"We'll shoot if you try anything funny!" warned a third.

A few women armed with long round shaped rifles stood guard with their weapons trained on a cluster of prisoners they had gathered after the firefight. Two of the women removed their suits revealing one to be a teen with light blue colored boyish styled hair, wearing a white and black pilot suit and a metal circlet around her left eye. The other, was a large chested blond haired woman that wore a black, exotic form-fitting dress that left very little to the imagination.

"I know it's a disinfectant but I don't think I will ever get use to this smell." the blond women whined while fixing her long hair.

The light blue haired women ignored her as she looked around the hanger as if searching for someone.

"Where'd Dita go?" she asked.

"The last I saw of her she was blasting her way through the hull and thanks to that we got- Ow! That really hurt Paiway my skins very delicate I'll have you know!" said a dark green haired women in a slim purple suit, glaring at a younger girl with dark gray hair which were held in large pigtails, who appeared to be a nurse as she was bandaging the other girl's arm.

"Just try to tolerate it." replied the black haired girl named Paiway.

The black haired cadet stopped to look at them and analyzed the small girl for a moment noting her lack of experience.

"Nurses should be a little more sensitive!" complained the green haired women as she gritted her teeth.

"I am sensitive!" she assured with a little whine.

One of the guards noticed that the black haired cadet wasn't walking.

"Hey keep moving!"

The man gave the small nurse one last look before he grunted and moved along.

Hibiki was still running full throttle from the red headed girl, jumping down beams and catwalks as he did so.

"Sorry! But I don't feel like having my guts eaten by women today!" he panted as continued to run from the girl.

Unfortunately for him, this girl didn't seem to be the type who gives up easily.

"Mr. Alien! Let's sit down and have a little chat!" she shouted excitedly as she continued to chase after him.

Not slowing down he looked back at her from the corner of his eye, shocked by her persistence and coming to one conclusion.

"Women are scary!"

Back on the other half of the Tarakan Flagship, bridge officers were monitoring the pirate's main ship as it flew towards the older half of the Ikazuchi they ejected on the radar and also the damage from the other two unknown ships that joined the battle.

"The Mejere ship is heading for the old section."

"Data is being transferred."

"The two unknown hostiles have decimated 1/3 of our forces!"

"Those females move fast don't they?" remarked the prime minister as he sat on the command chair.

"Prepare to fire a torpedo, the Muramasa!" he ordered.

The commander looked at him with shock. "Minister are you actually going to destroy the old section?!"

The minister closed his eyes with his slightly tilted down before he looked back up.

"I'd rather destroy it with my own hands then let it fall into the hands of women!"

"You don't know when to give up!" Hibiki said through gritted teeth as he kept running from the redhead, while he held the robot in hand.

The redhead brought the camera to her face and snapped a couple shots at Hibiki's retreating back as she ran.

"Hey, Mr. Alien! Why are you running away? We're really a peaceful race! Honestly!"

"Not only are women are the scariest things I've ever seen, but they don't make any sense either!" Hibiki said to himself as he kept running.

* * *

The escape pods launched from the old section of the Ikazuchi and headed toward the Tarak controlled new section of it.

"Escape pods have been launched from the old section of the ship!"

"Is this their way of showing us pity?" asked the Prime Minister bitterly to no in particular with his head on his fist.

"Perhaps there is a peaceful way to resolve this battle." suggested the commander.

The Minister ignored him and shifted his gaze out the corner of his eye.

"Isn't the Muramasa ready yet?" he asked impatiently.

"Report!" barked the commander.

"Determining the coordinates for the target." replied the tactical officer.

The targeting scanners were slowly acquiring a lock on the Muramasa missile's target.

Back in space Valkyrie and Fenrir regrouped after inflicting large amounts of damage to the Tarak fleet.

"Pathetic! Hell, the Golden Axe Plan Army put up a better fight than these small boys." Valkyrie mocked.

"True but that's not our problem." Fenrir said.

He then spotted a hatch on the new section of the Ikazuchi opening up to launch the Muramasa missile.

"Antares 2 we got a problem."

"What is it Antares 1?"

"That half of the flagship's about to launch a missile at that other half that has the women on it."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's stop the missile."

"Alright. Unload everything you got left on that missile!"

"Roger that, Antares 2!"

* * *

"I was sorta looking forward to this because they said this was gonna be big, but this is all junk!" said the blond in frustration while leaning on a collapsed Vanguard.

"Jura, I'm going to go look for Dita, let's go." ordered the light blue haired girl as she knelt by the breach caused by the blue Dread earlier.

"Oh brother, this is why I didn't want to bring along a trainee." Jura sighed.

The light bluenette teen looked up at her.

"Listen Jura, we're short-handed as it is, if you didn't want to be here you should have spoken up earlier." she scolded.

"Okay you don't have to yell! You want me to go right?" Jura pouted.

"Oh my ... looks like they're aiming a missile at us." a brunette said with worry as she caught on to the lock on signal.

"What?! Parfet is it possible to move the ship?" the silver haired woman asked the engineer with glasses.

"I'm afraid not, the engines dead." Parfet replied with a shrug.

The silver haired woman growled and turned on her communicator.

"What do we do?" she asked her captain.

"I see it, losing the ship will be a shame but..." The captain said as she looked up, "Let's get outta here!"

The red pirate ship then moved in toward the old section of the Ikazuchi.

"Copy that! Did you hear Meia?" she asked over the communicator.

"I've lost Dita, I'll rendezvous with you as soon as I find her so go on ahead." said the light bluenette teen who was now known as Meia.

She and Jura were standing on twisted walkway near were the blue Dread was sticking out from the wall. Suddenly they both heard a scream from below them and looked to see what was going on.

Hibiki as before was running away from the red head, desperately trying to lose her.

"Stop following me!" he yelled at her as he ran.

"Mr. Alien, wait!"

"Dita…!" Meia called, identifying the red head, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You see that Meia. She's chasing a man." Jura noted dryly as she gave Meia a sidelong glance.

Meia leaped over the railing and began to chase the redhead known as Dita with Jura not far behind.

As the Muramasa streamed towards the old section of the ship, the pirates began to extract their crews from the ship.

"Crew extraction commenced." reported a woman who was watching over a console that showed the extraction tube.

"Three hundred seconds till missiles impact." said another watching over the missiles course.

"BC?!" called the old captain to her second in command.

"I'm the only one left from my team, three members under Meia have yet to return." the silver haired woman known as BC reported.

"They'll have to return in their Dreads, return to the ship now!" the captain ordered.

"Roger!"

The Antares pilots continue trying to intercept the Muramasa missiles but so far the bullets from their cannons were bouncing off and their missiles barely made a dent.

"Leader, I'm low on ammo and we're making no progress here!" Valkyrie yelled out.

"Do you have any special weapons left?" Fenrir asked.

"1 more shot! What of you?"

"Same here. 1 more LSWM, but I'll need to time it right! Fire away!"

"Roger!"

Dita continued chasing Hibiki until Meia caught up and tackled her.

"Meia!" Dita said nervously at her annoyed commander.

"What are you doing Dita?! You know better than to separate from the rest of the team!" Meia scolded.

"I'm sorry Meia." Dita apologized.

The three women hurry back to their Dreads while Hibiki continues to search for his Vanguard. He soon spots the machine and enters it.

"Alright partner let's get out of this place!" he said excitedly before pausing and looking at the controls. Then his eyes widen as he realized that he had no idea how to activate the Vanguard.

"Uh, how's this thing supposed to move?" Hibiki asked in a confused tone.

Two Dreads lifted off and spun elegantly to face the hangar's exit when Meia realized that Dita hadn't shown up.

"Dita!" she called out.

Dita's Dread was still embedded in the wall and the thrusters were not strong enough to free her.

"My Dread is stuck and I can't get out!" she shouted in a desperate tone. Her observation was spot on. With the walls blasted areas and edges, the Dread as effectively trapped as part of its front was wedged tightly against the sides of the bulkhead.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

Hibiki continued to struggle as he tried to move his Vanguard.

"Come on! Move dammit!" he demanded as he yanked a lever.

"Dita!" Meia shouted, determined not to lose her team member.

"We can't wait any longer!" Jura yelled.

"Hey Fenrir! I'm out of special weapons! But I've managed to inflict damage." Valkyrie called out.

"Wait a second...!" Fenrir said before he gained a lock, "JACKPOT! Fox Three!"

He fired the last LSWM at the damaged Muramasa. The warhead flew towards the two missiles and hit one of them. A massive explosion and shockwave followed suit as a wormhole comes out of nowhere and pulls the two ships and the two unknown planes into it before it vanishes.

"We're no longer reading any mass sir!" an officer reported.

The Prime Minister sighed in relief.

"I hope you women enjoyed the taste of defeat." he declared coldly.

* * *

Valkyrie opened her eyes; she found herself floating in a strange, aqua green sea of light. She looks around and spots her flight lead Fenrir and sighs in relief but she also spots four people she had never seen before.

Then she started hearing the others screaming, including herself, as they rapidly fell through the light into darkness.

"I SO FREAKING HATE SCI-FI!" she yelled out.

* * *

**Chapter 1 End.**

**Guess the two planes the two Antares pilots are in.**

**How did they end up here? Well that'll be explained in the next chapter.**

**Read & Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 2: Scorpions Return**

* * *

In an unknown area of space, the pirate ship and the old section of the Ikazuchi violently reappeared in the void of new space with the power of an exploding star. Both vessels were severely damaged by the explosions from the torpedos and the LSWM, but then tendrils of light were unleashed from the older ship. On the bridge of the pirate ship, the crew members groaned as they started to recover their bearings and consciousness.

"Uuuuggghhhhhhh….This doesn't feel like the afterlife. Where are we?!" demanded the elderly captain of the pirates.

"Checking now." informed a bridge operator.

Suddenly they were shaken by a strong force as if their ship was taken by something massive.

"What's going on now?!" the captain yelled.

She looked up at the main view-screen and gasped in shock as she saw the old section of the Ikazuchi shoot out massive glowing crystalline tendrils as if it were alive. The deployed tendrils of crystal began gathering the surrounding debris and incorporating them into its structure, including their own pirate cruiser!

"What the heck is going on? Is the crystal trying to consume the entire ship or something?!"

Inside the reactor room of the Ikazuchi which was now flooded with crystals, the three dread pilots who had been on the ship when the explosions occurred, woke up and were quite surprised to find themselves awake and alive and lying on the floor.

"Jura, are you alright?" Meia asked as she got up on her hands.

"I'm… okay." Jura answered as she sat up and also looked around the room and slowly got up.

Meia placed her hand to her face and rubbed it slightly. It was then that a thought struck her mind.

"Dita!"

"Hi! I'm over here!"

Both Meia and Jura looked in the direction of that voice and gave sighs of relief as they spotted the red-haired trainee pilot lying on her belly some distance away from them and waving her hand.

"Something… went beep… and then…. VROOOMMM! And I don't what happened then! Alien powers are SO amazing!" she mumbled excitedly.

Satisfied that her team is safe Meia got up and surveyed the scene around her.

Lying nearby was an unconscious Hibiki.

Not far away, Fenrir and Valkyrie also wake up on the floor of the room.

"You alright?" Fenrir asked.

"I sure as hell am alive 'cos this place does not look like heaven or hell." Valkyrie replied.

"Good to know. Speaking of which how the hell did we survive that explosion?"

"I have no idea. Better yet where are we to be exact?"

The pilots look at their flight suits and notice a few tears here and there. Their helmets are also cracked, most likely from cushioning their heads from whatever impact it made. Looking around, they spot their planes encased in crystal.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere, Fenrir."

"Got it. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Of course we're not going anywhere!"

"No need to turn me deaf Leader."

"Like you didn't try that earlier, Valkyrie. Whatever...let's look around this place."

* * *

The elderly captain looked briefly at the transformation that the ship was going through for a moment before turning her attention to the view screen.

"Gascogne! Do you think you could detach us?" asked Magno.

A screen came on revealing a tan muscled woman with short green hair and brown eyes.

"I can't do it with lasers. And if we don't hurry up, this place will get swallowed up too!" Gascogne reported calmly with her hands to her hips.

A second screen then came on next to the first revealing it to be B.C.

"The corrosion is starting to spread through the whole ship." she reported while on a comm. device.

A third screen then came on showing the chief engineer Parfet.

"The engine's down too so we can't move!" she reported with alarm.

The captain closed her eyes in thought.

"So we're going to have to get rid of it at the source…" she mumbled to herself. Then she opened her eyes. "I'm going up! B.C., Parfet come with me!" she ordered.

"Roger!"

* * *

The captain of the pirates, her first officer, and their chief engineer along with a well-armed group of their security team took a shuttle to the old section of the Ikazuchi and arrived at the crystallized reactor room. As soon as they came out of the shuttle, Meia went to greet them.

"Sorry you had to come all the way up here, Captain." she apologized.

The elderly captain waved her apology off gently as she smiled at the Dread Squadron leader. "There's no reason for you to apologize. I simply wanted to see this for myself."

She looked at the room which was flooded with crystals everywhere. She then noticed Hbiki on the floor.

"Well what do we have here?"

"That's the man Dita was chasing." Meia reported.

The captain directed her gaze to the Tarakan teen and remarked.

"It's been a while since I've last seen men. Were their faces always that funny looking?"

"So what do we do now?" Valkyrie whispered to Fenrir as they watched the group of people ahead of them.

"We approach them and play it cool for now, we don't try anything until they act hostile to us." Fenrir whispered in reply and began to walk towards the group with Valkyrie close behind him. When they got closer the two pilots made their footsteps louder to get the group's attention.

Meia, after hearing those loud footsteps, turned and aimed her ring at the source and saw two people with grey helmets on their head and wearing white and grey flight suits. Both of them stood at 6'2, athletically built and they carried themselves like professional soldiers. The black visors in their helmets made it even harder to identify them.

"Can you point that thing elsewhere?" Valkyrie said.

"I take it that you're the leader of this group ma'am." Fenrir stated to the elderly captain.

"Yes I am. Why, I'm not what you expected?" Magno replied.

"I meant no offense by that question ma'am, I just want to know who I'm dealing with." Fenrir apologized. The elderly captain looked at the man in front of them before she continued.

"None taken. As for who you're dealing with, the name's Magno Vivan, captain of the Mejerian space pirates. Who might you two be?"

"Name's Fenrir and this is Valkyrie. We're also known as the M42 Antares Squadron."

"M42 Antares Squadron? Never heard of it." BC said.

"Not surprising considering where we are. Wherever it is." Valkyrie said, before waving at Jura, "Hey there. Nice to see that you're alright."

"It's you! You're the one who shot those Vanguards off of me, and destroyed a few of the escort ships." Jura said.

"And I also helped with blowing up that excuse of a blockade and putting a hole in the ship for you all to get in." Fenrir added.

"I remember that. Why did you do that? Why did you help us?" Meia asked.

"Well, that ass hat of a Prime Minister ordered his fellow ass hats to attack us for no reason." Fenrir answered, "And since he was so kind to piss us off we decided to give him a fight and decimate 1/3 of his fleet while we're at it."

He continued, "I'm sure you have questions for us, just like we have questions for you, right?"

"Definitely. We'll talk somewhere more secure then." Magno said.

"Well then lead the way." Fenrir said.

Magno gave the order for the guards to pick up the unconscious Hibiki and they all returned to the shuttle.

* * *

Hibiki finally woke up. He then jumped up with a start bumping the top of his head against the bottom of the bed.

"OW!" he yelped, clutching his head in his hands.

"Oh, man! Well it looks like I'm stuck behind bars again huh?" he said depressingly with a downcast expression.

"So you're finally awake." an unknown voice said.

"Who's there?!" Hibiki gasped. He turned to see the stranger reveal himself.

"My name is Duero McFile. And do you have a name as well Mr. third class citizen?" Duero asked casually.

"Don't make fun of me! My name is Hibiki Tokai and I'm not just another third class citizen!" Hibiki snapped.

"You're the one who made the commotion during the ceremony right? How did you manage to sneak in anyway?" Duero asked with a slight smile of amusement.

Before Hibiki can give an answer the egg-shaped robot he was carrying earlier reactivated. It stood up and looked around while scratching its head in confusion.

"Hmmm? Where am I? Who am I?"

"You've changed a bit haven't you?" Hibiki stated with an exasperated look.

The machine looked at the young Tarakan with puzzlement.

As the two ships continued to reformat themselves, the pirate crew continued to work hard to stop the changes to their vessel, but had no luck in going so. Before long, every circuit, cable relay, and mechanism of their cruiser and the old colony ship were flooded with crystals.

A female crew member was staring up a hole that was filled with crystal.

"WOW! Miss Gasco, it looks like where connected on the inside too!" she said. Other female crew members were still trying to cut the crystals with lasers.

"Well that's just great! I had no idea that the Paksis had such incredible amounts of power and energy. And by the way, it's not Gasco it's GASCOGNE!" she shouted at the girl with an irritated glare and a raised fist, causing the unfortunate girl to cringe back with fear.

At the engineering section of the ship, Parfet and her crew of engineers were trying everything in their power to determine the extent of the damage, but had no idea where to start looking.

Parfet then looked at the console in front of her and examined the readouts it displayed.

"Just as I feared! They're linked down to the core!" she said.

"We have to do something!" said a member of her engineering team.

"Try and insert the Linestar Particle charges into the main cable right away! Just make it so we can control this thing!" she ordered.

* * *

"Paiway! Let us out of here now!" Barnette shouted as she pounded on the glass as she and four other girls were being doused in cold water in the decontamination chambers.

"We're freezing!" whined another as she shivered.

The unfortunate women were in their undergarments and facing the soon to become possibility that they would be in danger of catching pneumonia.

However, the young apprentice nurse didn't listen to her comrades, as she sat on her desk and shook her head. "Not until all the male germs are gone."

"Paiway!"

She then directed her attention at her trusty diary. "Even in times of crisis like this, the super cute idol star Paiway does not lose her cool…"

* * *

Back in the brig, Hibiki and the small robot were in a staring contest and the young Tarakan was already getting sick of it.

"Want me to fix you or something?" he asked in irritation.

"Don't make fun of me! I'm not broken!" shouted the robot as he waved his arms angrily in the air.

"Well what do you want?!" Hibiki snapped back angrily.

Before anything else could be said, there was interruption in the form of footsteps and then the arrival of BC and two security guards.

"W-WOMEN! What are you planning on doing?!" Hibiki demanded hysterically.

BC just rolled her eyes at Hibiki's panic.

"Calm down, this is the safest place for you right now." she said with a smirk.

Hibiki scoffed, "Sure you say that but…you want to eat my guts!"

The silvered haired woman blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Eat your guts…?"

Then one of the security guards busted out laughing and held her hand to her mouth as she tried in vain to stop herself.

"H-He really believes that!" The second guard giggled.

"Before we have dinner I'd like to ask you three something, come with us." BC said with a smile while the two guards kept laughing their asses off.

The laser bars to the holding cell were deactivated and the guards escort Hibiki, Duero and the small robot to the interrogation room.

Hibiki was staring at the breasts and the butt of the women and was about to touch one of the security personnel's posterior.

"What do they have in there anyway?" whispered Hibiki curiously as he moved in.

He touched the young girl's rear and naturally the girl let a squeal before turning around with a flushed face and gave Hibiki a very unfriendly glare. She then lashed out and shouted.

"PERVERT!"

SLAP!

When they reach the interrogation room, the two are ordered to sit down on a couch, and they also spot two other people wearing white and grey flight suits and helmets standing by the wall.

"Oww…why in the heck did she do that?!" Hibiki complained as he sat down and tried to relieve the pain as he had a large hand print in red on his cheek. Behind them, the young girl that he had touched on the posterior was looking away with a look of absolute disgust on her face while her companions were looking at then men.

"A gentleman should never be rude to a lady." the robot said in a reprimanding tone.

"Hey, I don't even know what you're talking about!" Hibiki shouted.

"It's called etiquette you little brat." said one of the other two people in the room in disgust, "Consider yourself lucky you got off with a slap 'cos if it was up to me, I'd castrate you!"

That caused Hibiki to freak out and cover up his manhood while Duero looked at the person with interest.

"That's enough." ordered the other person beside the one that talked.

Then everyone in the room noticed two more people entering the room. Meia pointing her laser ring behind a blonde uniformed man's neck to prevent him from trying anything stupid while at the same time looks at the other two people standing by the wall, wondering why they didn't have any restraints on them.

"Did you find another one?" BC asked Meia.

"Yes, he was trying to hide in one of the platforms." Meia reported in a neutral tone.

"H-Hey there comrades! Glad to see ya here!" The blonde man nervously laughed.

The two other people looked at the blonde man and after a quick evaluation of him, they categorized him as a complete non-combatant. He showed no form of combat experience or on hand tactical knowledge. And with the way he trembled, he looked even more pathetic compared to a seasoned soldier.

_'Who the hell let that fool into the military?'_ They both thought.

Suddenly the door opened and in came none other than Captain Magno Vivian, the founder and leader of the pirates herself as she looked over the number of men that were before her. She gave each man a long studying look before sighing in disbelief.

"My goodness, I've heard you rounded up some prisoners but they're just kids." she said as she looked at them.

"Hey! It's interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!" said the little robot as it began hopping to the place where Magno was standing.

The pirate captain looked at it and smirked. "My, my, how nostalgic! It's a Navi-robot, and this one's still seems to function, eh?"

The other two people leaned against the wall they were standing by with their arms crossed in interest.

"I'm not following." Duero said with curiosity.

"Yeah, this is a men's ship isn't it?" Hibiki asked Magno.

The captain looked up from the robot toward Duero and Hibiki.

"Yes and before that it was used for colonization." she answered simply.

Hibiki jumped up slightly from his seat with a gasp and a shocked expression, Duero narrowed his visible eye with curiosity and the other two people tilted their heads to the side as they were all taken by surprise.

"What do you mean 'it was used for colonization'?" one of the two asked.

"You really don't know anything do you?" Magno asked rhetorically with a smirk before continuing, "This old ship was part of a fleet from a planet called Earth to colonize other worlds. Of course, this happened a very long time ago before your fathers were even born. Unfortunately, your cowardly grandfathers stole this section of the ship and fled into the dead of the night." she finished with her smirk turning into a frown.

_'It came from Earth? What happened to cause the people there to do that?'_

The robot nodded as it continued with the explanations. "They overhauled the old battleship and added residential areas to the ship."

"And now we find ourselves back in this battleship. This is our business you know so we'll gladly take the ship. But the problem is what are we supposed to do with you guys?" Magno asked with a sly smile.

"We should get rid of them. Things are unstable enough and they are a security risk." Meia suggested while eyeing the other two unknown people in particular.

"No reason to be hasty! We'll carefully consider exactly how we want to cook these fellas up." Magno said before she licked her lips.

That statement and action made Hibiki sweat and Bart nearly piss in his pants, but Duero, Fenrir and Valkyrie remained calm. Duero had been trained to keep his focus as a medic. But in the case of Fenrir and Valkyrie, while they were trained by the Netherlands Air Force and were once part of NATO's Peacekeeping Task Force, they felt extremely annoyed by Hibiki and Bart's reaction to Magno's obvious bluff.

"Are you serious?! You two don't actually believe that garbage, do you?!" Valkyrie said.

"I don't blame them. Based on their reactions I'd say that they've been fed so much bullshit propaganda that it's comical. At least the black-haired one seems to have more common sense." Fenrir added.

Bart and Hibiki looked at the two with confusion; Duero simply looked at them curiously, while in Magno's case, she was intrigued.

"My, my, you two are quite brave to say such things." she said.

Fenrir scoffed, "Bravery has nothing to do with it. You could say that me and Valkyrie here belong to a more open-minded people. We like to confirm things after we see and experience them first hand."

"I see. Can you two take off your helmets then?"

"Only if you promise not to have your guards shoot us when we do."

Magno gives her word and the two pilots put their hands on their helmets and turned them to the side before pulling them off slowly, revealing their faces.

Fenrir's a man with sky blue eyes, dark brown skin, long white hair with black streaks and reaching his lower back. Valkyrie was more surprising to everyone else in the room. She's a woman with red eyes, white skin, long black hair reaching her waist. Both put down their helmets, took out something from their pockets and tied their hair into ponytails.

Meia gasped, "You're a woman?"

"Yes? Who were you expecting? The Tooth Fairy?" Valkyrie joked, then saw their surprised faces, "Oh c'mon. Didn't my call sign make it obvious to you all?"

"Your voice regulator made you sound masculine, that's why." Fenrir pointed out.

"Oh."

Magno is the first to get out of her stupor and begins to speak.

"Can you tell us who you are? I can tell that you two are from the military but I've never seen that uniform or that insignia on it."

"Name's Sol Robben. A mercenary pilot from the Netherlands, I go by the call sign Fenrir and I'm the leader of Martinez Security's M42 Antares Squadron."

"I'm Nevan Robben. Also a mercenary pilot from the Netherlands, my call sign is Valkyrie and I'm a wing man in Antares Squadron."

"Hold on..." BC began, "You two have the same last names. Are you..."

"We're both brother and sister if that's what you want to know." Nevan finished for her.

Meia scoffed, "I find that hard to believe. A man and woman as siblings?"

"Not just siblings, twins. And if you can get your head out of your ass then maybe you can see that it's possible for a man and woman to be siblings." Nevan replied with an annoyed look.

"Don't bother to argue with her Nevan. She's obviously too stubborn to believe that." Sol said. Meia glared at him for his statement and Sol glared right back at her.

"I'm sorry to cut in but how are you two twins?" BC interrupted, "You don't look-alike in any way."

"Fraternal twins." Duero spoke up getting everyone's attention, "Twins born at the same time but do not look-alike in any way."

Nevan nodded, "That's correct. You're a doctor, right?" Duero nodded in reply.

"Well...Sol and Nevan...you two are interesting." Magno said, "And I'd take it that you're both not from Tarak or Mejere?"

"Obviously correct." Sol bluntly answered.

"By the way, what year is it now?" Nevan asked.

"Year 2808." BC answered.

"WWWHHAAAATTTT?!" The twins shouted, "IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE?!"

"No, we're not joking." BC answered.

Nevan sighed, "Well that sucks. That means our mission contract with our last client's long since expired."

"And what was your mission exactly?" Magno asked.

Sol answered, "I'm afraid that's classified ma'am. I hope you understand that we can't disclose any info about our missions, even past ones. Client confidentiality. The same applies to you right, you won't just divulge info about your own clients right?"

"You have a point there Sol." Magno agreed.

"Now don't you have these guys to sort out?" Nevan mentioned.

"Ah...yes I do." Magno said as she turned to the three Tarakans.

* * *

In the garden Dita and a brown-haired girl with a simple dress looked at the constellations outside.

"None of them matches!" groaned the brown-haired girl as she looked through a hand-held telescope. "I just don't get it!"

"You don't get? It's an amazing thing to come across aliens!" said Dita as she looked out to the stars while they both stood in the garden with occasional blue crystals that jutted from the ground.

"You're right it is amazing. We thought the Paksis was just an energy source, but it's restoring the ship!" the brunette observed as she continued looking through the telescope.

"And made it like new!" Dita sighed blissfully to herself with her eyes closed and a faraway expression on her face. "That means if I could get abducted…."

Then she noticed the brunette next to her sighing in disappointment.

"Ezra what's the matter? Don't you feel well?" she asked curiously.

"Oh I'm fine Dita. I was just thinking about everyone." she replied with a reassuring smile.

"I think about them too. All the people we had to leave behind at the base." Dita said as she looked back to the vast array of stars before her.

Ezra also looked back to the starry vista. "I hope we can get back to them soon."

Dita then blinked and breathed out in excitement when she saw something in the distance.

"What is it Dita?" Ezra asked wondering what the red-head was looking at.

"Hey look at that over there!" Dita exclaimed as she pointed to what she was seeing.

Ezra looked through her telescope. "Where?"

Then she noticed three dots on her telescopes scanner heading towards them. "What do you think they could be?"

Ezra was then taken aback when Dita suddenly jumped next to her with a glazed over, starry look on her face as several images came into her mind…concerning little green men and floating discs.

"Isn't it obvious Ezra? They're UFOs!" Dita beamed excitedly.

"So the twins here are mercenary pilots and that young man with the long hair is a doctor. But what about the other one?" Magno asked.

"He's an attacker." Meia stated.

"What a minute! I'm not a-" Hibiki started to protest but was interrupted when the blonde man elbowed him in the gut, knocking the breath out of his lungs and making him double over.

Hibiki looked up from his seat and glared at the smug man. "Why you…!" he gasped.

"I happened to notice him climbing into an enemy power suit." Meia continued while ignoring the conflict between the two.

"Oh? A Vanguard pilot huh?" Magno asked as eyed Hibiki curiously.

"So those things that attacked us are Vanguards?" Nevan asked.

"That's correct. I'd say that you two handled them without a problem." BC said.

"That's right. Which is why Antares is called in for important missions for a reason." Sol answered her.

"W-Wait a second-!" Hibiki protested again but as before was interrupted, this time by the intercom.

"There's something approaching us!" reported a women's voice over the intercom.

"Is it male reinforcements?" B.C. asked pulling out her communicator.

_"Actually-"_

_"THEY'RE UFOs!"_ interrupted Dita with an excited shout.

"UFOs?" Sol and Nevan repeated.

* * *

At the very same time Dita mentioned the UFOs, the ship shuddered from the force of some form of impact.

"They're attacking us!" Ezra cried with alarm.

"Danger! Danger!" shouted the panicked Navi robot as it ran around the room in alarm.

"What's going on now?" Hibiki asked.

Suddenly rocked violently as more impacts hit the ship causing Magno to drop her bowl of jello.

"Oh no! My afternoon snack!" she cried in dismay as she looked down at the shattered remains of her snack on the floor.

"Dread's are going out!" Meia said calmly as she ran out of the room.

"With your permission, Captain, Antares will go out there and help fight off the enemy." Sol calmly said.

Magno looks at him and saw the seriousness in his eyes, "Alright. Be careful out there!"

"Thank you Captain!" Sol replied and looked at his twin, "Nevan!"

Nevan looked back and nodded, "Right let's go!"

With that the Antares pilots ran out of the room towards the hangar.

"Parfet! Can you get the ship to move?" BC asked through her communicator.

"That's impossible, I can't control it at all! And the automatic defense system is barely functional!" Parfet reported back with a hint of fear.

* * *

Meia pulled out her communicator as she ran down a corridor heading for her dread.

"Barnette, where are you?" she asked through her communicator.

_"Paiway locked us in the decontamination room with showers on and we can't get out!"_ A distressed Barnette answered.

"Miss Gasco what about you?" Meia asked through the comm.

Elsewhere Gascogne was supervising and helping with the removal of the crystals in the ship.

"The Dreads can't get out. They've been swallowed up by Paksis. There's nothing I can do but I'll head up there right now." Gascogne replied as various other women continued to drill through the crystals.

_"Roger!"_

"And listen…it's not Gasco, it's Gascogne!" she growled in annoyance.

Meia continued to run down the corridors with communicator in hand hoping to reach someone.

"Jura, what is your location?" she asked as she ran.

_"I'm on my way towards the platform right now!"_ Jura reported.

As soon as they entered the hangar Jura suddenly stopped and gasped as she saw the changes made to the three dreads.

Dita shortly arrived and gaped at what she was seeing.

Within the huge room were their dreads, but the ships somehow took new configurations after being engulfed by the power of the Paksis.

"What is going on around here?" Jura asked as she looked at their respective ships.

"Wow!" Dita gasped, as she looked awed at the sight.

Meia had also stopped briefly, but then shook herself from her stupor. She then ran for her dread and didn't hesitate to board it. Jura and Dita also did the same and entered their ships, and as soon as they were on board they checked the systems.

Inside her dread, Meia did a quick but thorough systems check and nodded with relief. "Looks like the systems haven't changed much. How about you two?"

"I think I can fly this." Jura reported through her comm. link.

"They must have been powered up!" Dita responded with excitement ruling her voice. "This is so exciting!"

"Just don't do anything reckless! Alright!" Meia warned her team.

"Roger!" they both replied.

Her dread then lifted off and flew out of the hanger, followed closely by her were her wing mates. They were soon in space and they immediately engaged the unknown enemy.

* * *

The unknown enemies were not like any the dread pilots had ever seen before. Small fighter ships shaped like odd-shaped octopus that began letting loose a powerful volley after volley of laser and cannon fire at the fused ships and the three dreads trying to defend it from them.

"Excuse me Mr. Aliens! We're really a peaceful race! Maybe we talk about what's bothering you!" Dita cried out as she managed to make her craft dodge the incoming stream of weapons fire from her pursuers.

Jura winced as her dread took enemy fire on the stern.

"Dita! These are our enemies!" Jura scolded through the comm-link.

Meia noted that her fighter's response time was better than before as she managed to dodge the barrage of fire from more of the alien fighters as she downed one of them. "The controls respond differently."

"I'm not sure who the enemy is. They're definitely not men." Jura assured as she got into contact with Meia.

"That's obvious isn't it?! They're really BAD aliens!" Dita shouted with anger as she continued to dodge the incoming fire as she also got into contact with Meia.

"Oh boy…" sighed Jura at Dita's behavior.

Some distance behind the enemy fighters was their mother ship; the alien vessel was shaped like a massive seed. Every once in a while during certain intervals the mother ship's maw would open releasing two massive cubes, which would immediately break apart into new fighters.

Meia narrowed her eyes as she saw the incoming fighters. "What are these things? Are they really aliens?"

* * *

Several voices came over the comm as pandemonium ensued with women from different sections of the ship were reporting in or requesting assistance.

"BC take control of the bridge." Magno ordered.

"Gotcha!" BC acknowledged with a nod as she started to run out of the room.

Magno winced and BC stumbled to a stop as the ship shook after taking several more direct hits from their new enemies. Then a section of the wall in the interrogation chamber exploded behind them, and a scream tore through the room as debris from the collapsed wall had fallen on top of one the guards.

At this point, Duero decided to put his skills and knowledge as a physician to work. He got up, just as the second female guard tried to help her injured comrade who was trapped by the blown section of the wall.

"Are you okay? Don't worry I'll get you out of here!" she sobbed.

"No you mustn't move her!" Duero shouted.

She instantly pointed her laser-ring at him, but Duero held up his hands to a non-threatening gesture. Duero then spoke to the young crew member. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. I just want to see if I can help her."

The girl lowered the ring, and as soon as that happened Duero began instructing her to help remove the debris from her injured comrade. Once that was done he went on to check for any broken bones and gave the signal that the injured female had no broken bones from the impact.

"Well now. It seems that you could use some assistance here." he said getting Magno and B.C.'s attention.

The captain gave a suspicious look to the smooth talking cadet.

The blonde nodded as he continued to explain. "Name's Bart and while the fact is that we are mutual enemies, right now we're going to need to make our survival a top priority. And well, you may wish to use my skills. You see…the truth is that I am actually a helmsman."

"Oh? So you're a helmsman are you?" Magno asked, though clearly suspicious of him.

"Warning! This guy is trying to pull something!" The Navi-bot said as it pointed a finger at Bart.

"You keep quiet now!" Magno commanded the little machine.

"Sorry!"

She then addressed Bart again. "Well then…what is it that you have to say?"

"Okay, I was thinking that we could call a cease-fire for now, maybe we can all find a way to help each other somehow." he explained as he approached the captain. "It would be smarter for us to gather our forces and get over this crisis together."

"Interesting…That's not a bad idea." she remarked.

Bart gave a nervous laugh and smiled. "I appreciate you listening to my advice. So, what do you say we shake on it?" he asked as he offered his hand to Magno.

Magno slapped away his hand with her cane and replied, "Now listen closely, I have no wish of getting chummy with you. You'll still be treated as a prisoner."

Bart nervously laughed again as he clutched his hand. "Whatever you say Madam!"

"I can't do anything here!" Duero yelled, "She's in critical condition! Take me to sickbay!" he demanded with urgency.

Magno walked forward and looked back at Bart. "Alright then you come to the bridge with me young man."

"What should I do with him, captain?" BC asked as she directed her gaze at Hibiki who was cowering in a corner on his knees with his hands over his head.

"Take him down to the warehouse." Magno ordered.

Sol and Nevan arrived at the hangar and they stared at their fighter jets. The Fenrir and ADF-01 FALKEN were no longer encased in crystal and were in good condition.

"Looks like our jets are still intact." Nevan stated.

"True. Let's get in and join the fight!" Sol said.

Sol climbed into the Fenrir and Nevan climbed into the ADF-01 FALKEN and both began their own systems check. Not much had changed to the COFFIN system except that it was much clearer. The machine gun ammo and standard missiles were refilled. Sol found out that the Fenrir had XMAA missiles as special weapons while Nevan saw that the Tactical Laser System was now fully recharged.

"All systems are green. Let's do this!" Sol exclaimed.

The two advanced fighter jets' engines roared to life as they moved out of the hangar and flew into space to join the battle.

Hibiki stood in an unused area as a guard kept watch over him while B.C. examined a tear in the wall.

"This isn't good. If we can't get the ship to stabilize, we might be in for a terrible situation if the men attack again." BC said.

"Hey-um…" Hibiki nervously called to B.C.

"What is it?" BC asked.

"Uh, I know I haven't really said too much to you so far but I-I want to say something. What I wanna say is that…I'm not actually the pilot of the Vanguard." he said weakly while his eyes looked away nervously from B.C.

B.C. slightly narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"The truth is that I'm just a third class parts mechanic that's all. I guess somehow I just didn't have the nerves to tell you before…" he explained nervously while still not looking at B.C.

"Huh? Then what are you doing here?" she asked in slight surprise.

"That's a really funny question actually. You see I…sort of got suckered into doing this pretty stupid thing. I kinda said that I would steal one of the Vanguards." he confessed. He let out a small laugh at his own stupidity. "I mean, I don't want to give you the wrong idea…"

"I guess the data we have is incorrect because I had always heard that men were a proud race. But who would have ever thought that they were such pathetic beings?" BC interrupted as she gave him a look of mock pity and amusement.

Hibiki gasped as he was taken back by that.

"No matter what the reason, aren't you here because of your pride? Or is it that you got yourself into this situation because of your need to show proof of your own existence?" she asked sternly while narrowing her eyes at him.

Hibiki looked down and said nothing as his eyes widened in shock.

"We are both humans. We breathe the same, we fight the same, we live the same, and we die the same. Are you going to chicken out while everyone is trying their best to survive? You have nowhere to run to. Nowhere to hide. And in the last moments of your life, you are going to die in a dark corner of the ship crying your eyes out unless you decide to change."

Hibiki went down on his knees and looked down helplessly at the floor as his hands curled into fists.

"I-I don't know…I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" Hibiki cried in despair.

BC looked down at Hibiki for a moment before closing her eyes.

"I guess I didn't need to say all that. Let's get back to the bridge!" she ordered to her subordinate and then began to walk towards the exit.

"But what about him?" the female guard asked.

"Don't worry, he doesn't have anywhere to run to now. And neither do we." BC said as she briefly looked back to Hibiki.

With that both of the women left the area leaving a depressed Hibiki on the floor.

* * *

In the bridge, Bart gasped as he looked at the transformed part of the ship which consisted of a massive view port overhead, six comm stations of which three where occupied, the command chair for the captain, and a platform which extended from the deck and had a pool shaped ending that overlooked the garden below.

"W-What is this thing?!" Bart asked nervously as he looked over the edge.

"The bridge has been extended all the way out there." Magno replied as she watched from behind.

"Look at that!" said the Navi robot in awe.

"Now show us what you can do." Magno commanded and then shoved Bart forward with the end of her cane.

"H-Hey watch it! This is dangerous!" he shouted as he stumbled to the walkway.

He walked to the pool-like pad while Magno and the Navi robot watched the cowardly cadet.

Bart inched closer to the pool and looked at the surface of blue-green colored liquid. "What the heck…?!"

"What's wrong? Are you saying that you don't know how to operate it?" Magno asked.

"No! H-How should I put this? It's just that it's one of our military's closely guarded secrets!" Bart quickly explained to cover his fear. He then moved to the edge of the opening and cautiously placed his foot on the surface of the pool.

"Umm, let's see now. This should do-WAAHHH!" he screamed as the pool formed into a tentacle, took hold of his leg and dragged him into itself with a flash of a pillar of light leaving both Magno and the Navi robot staring with wide eyes.

"My, that's some secret weapon!" The old woman said as she stared at the now serene looking pool.

"He doesn't know how to use it, does he?" the robot asked.

Inside the liquid pool, Bart suddenly found himself naked and floating in some sort of virtual reality environment.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" he shouted as looked around in confusion.

All of a sudden, Bart saw images of the battle raging outside and he naturally reacted like the coward he is. He let out a piercing scream as he thrashed about in the environment, the entire ship thrashed with his movements, catching everyone on the ship off-guard.

"Well what do you know? The ship moved!" Magno remarked as she sat in her command chair.

* * *

Meanwhile the battle out in space continued to rage on and it seemed that for every fighter the dreads would destroy, four more would take the place of those destroyed by the dreads. It wasn't long before the three pirates found themselves badly outnumbered.

"There's just too many of them!" Jura said as she contacted Meia through the comm.

"Captain! The enemy's all around us, I don't know how much longer we can hold them!" Meia reported as she maneuvered her dread dodging incoming fire.

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on the way!" Magno assured as she appeared on the comm channel.

"Reinforcements? Who is it?" Meia asked.

"Two very interesting ones." Magno replied cryptically.

"I don't care who they are, they'd better hurry!" Jura whined a bit as she dodged some more attacks from the enemy fighters. Then a new voice broke in.

"Time to dive into the fireworks!"

Suddenly two advanced fighter jets joined the fray and began shooting down several of the unknown enemies with ruthless aggression.

"It's those two pilots!" Jura gasped as the Fenrir and FALKEN flew past her dread.

"It's the other good aliens!" Dita cried out in joy.

"Antares Squadron at your service." Valkyrie said after shooting down an enemy with a AIM-9 Sidewinder.

"Divide and conquer Antares 2." Fenrir ordered.

"Roger that, Antares 1!"

A group of eight of the cube fighters divided into two groups of four and diverted their attention from the dreads towards the two new fighters.

The first group chased after the Fenrir and fired their lasers at it. The pilot weaved through the attacks and fired a Sidewinder at one of them, blowing it up. The Fenrir barrel rolled to avoid a collision and flew through the formation, the other three cube fighters turned around and chased after it. Fenrir waited for the three enemies to get into good range while switching to his special weapons. Quickly pushing his flight stick forward and immediately pulling it back while decelerating, Fenrir performed Kulbit maneuver and got behind the three pursuers before destroying them with three XMAA missiles.

"Splash!"

Valkyrie spotted the next group of cube fighters coming at her and in an almost straight line. She smirked at them as she switched to the FALKEN's trump card. The bottom compartment opened up and the TLS fired at the group and decimated them all in one fell swoop.

"That's four of them in one go!"

The two advanced fighters continued to wreak havoc on the enemy formation.

Back on the ship the Magno, BC and the crew watched the Antares pilots' skills in action.

"Oh my, look at them go." Ezra said in awe.

"Looks like those twins are as good as they say." BC stated in agreement, "They definitely have vicious stings."

Magno nodded, "Just like scorpions."

Not only was the crew looking in awe at Antares in action, so was the dread team.

* * *

"Sheesh. As much as I'd like to say "You keep sending them, I'll keep knocking them down!", this is starting to get old!" Fenrir complained as he made a high G turn to avoid a barrage of laser fire.

"You're right about that Antares 1, and it's because of that thing over there that looks like the enemy mother ship." Valkyrie pointed out as she spotted the Seed mother ship releasing more fighters. She then used the TLS to wipe them out quickly.

"Don't you got any of your LSWMs at all." she asked.

"I don't have any loaded. I'm stuck with XMAAs and that ain't enough to take that thing out compared to your laser." Fenrir replied.

"More reinforcements are heading your way. Though we don't know how helpful he'll be." Magno informed everyone, but mumbled the last part to herself.

"More reinforcements? Are we really going to need them?" Jura asked after seeing the damage inflicted by the Antares Squadron.

The vanguard burst out of the fusing ship, the pilot screaming as his Vanguard spun out of control and soon got surrounded by cube fighters.

"What is that?" Jura asked unimpressed by the Vanguard.

"It's the first good alien!"

"That's our…other reinforcements?!" Meia asked quietly, seeing the embarrassing way the Vanguard was being piloted.

_'Has that old woman gotten too senile that she's sending in someone with no combat experience into battle?!'_ Valkyrie thought incredulously.

"Captain? Was it a good idea to send a kid with no combat experience into battle?" Fenrir asked Magno through the comm link.

Magno replied, "He said that he wanted to fight and I gave him the chance to do I'm starting to regret it."

The vanguard then broke away from the enemy fighters while Hibiki attempted to reorient himself.

"Alright you guys are pretty good…" he said with a shaken voice as he was still dazed from spinning. Then he violently shook his head to clear it of his disorientation. "But I'm getting a hang of it now!"

"Take this! LIGHTNING FIST!" he yelled as he made the vanguard lash out with a punch…that did absolutely nothing. The cube fighters simply surrounded him and opened fire while Hibiki let out a startled cry as his vanguard was hit.

Jura and Dita wore looks of disbelieving embarrassment at the lameness of vanguard.

Valkyrie sighed in exasperation at the boy's stupidity.

Fenrir not in the mood for this idiocy flew towards the vanguard and launched 4 XMAA missiles at the cube fighters, taking them out and saving Hibiki from any more assault.

"Hey! I could have handled that?! What's the big idea?" Hibiki yelled out after clearing out the smoke in his cockpit.

"Yeah. Yeah. Cry me a river! Quit showing off and do something useful!" Fenrir yelled back before breaking away.

"What's his problem?" Hibiki muttered to himself. He then focused on the battle and got his vanguard to draw a sword with a flourishing spin, slicing two enemy fighters as he did. The vanguard then accelerated forward slicing two more enemies while charging toward the enemy mother ship.

"The enemy's main ship has stopped advancing!"

"It's heading toward the vanguard!"

"It doesn't look like that other one isn't going to live much longer." Magno commented as she saw Hibki's reckless actions.

"Your right. But if he does somehow survive this challenge, the world we've come to know maybe turned upside down." BC said with a smile.

* * *

Hbiki's vanguard slashed through another enemy fighter then charged with the intent on finishing the enemy off. He was unaware that a certain dread was following his vanguard.

"It's amazing!" Dita beamed.

"Dita! What are you doing?! Fall back!" Meia ordered.

"There's nothing to worry about! Mr. Alien can win this! I just know it!" she replied undaunted.

"Dita!"

"Didn't hear her?! Pull back!" Fenrir ordered too.

"I don't like this Fenrir. We should back them up before it gets worse." Valkyrie said.

"I'm going for it! No one is going to stop me now!" Hibiki yelled. He was about to reach the enemy ship with the vanguard, when a cluster of enemy fighters rammed and pushed themselves against the vanguard, preventing it from reaching the seed vessel by slowing it down.

"Just a little more…I can reach it! I just need more power!" Hibiki grunted as he struggled to make his mech move.

Valkyrie was about to fire the FALKEN's TLS at the enemy flagship but Dita's dread got in her way forcing her to not take the shot.

"What are you doing?! Pull back!" Valkyrie yelled.

The alien mother ship took this chance to attack and let loose metallic tendrils that struck the vanguard head on and sent powerful charges to it along the tendrils. At the same time Dita's dread collided with him headlong.

There was a massive explosion, which engulfed both the Vanguard and Dita's fighter.

"DITA!" Meia and Jura screamed at the sight.

"You FUCKING IDIOTS!" Valkyrie yelled out, "Fenrir, we have to pull back and change our special weapons to deal with that thing!"

Fenrir ignored her as he watched the explosion silently as he sensed that the battle wasn't over yet.

* * *

On the bridge of the pirate vessel, Magno lowered her head and spoke solemnly, "Well, I guess our miracle didn't happen."

BC nodded.

"We should tell the crew to evacuate the ship." she suggested.

Then a voice broke over the comm.

"It ain't over until the fat lady sings." Fenrir said to them. At the same time, the Navi robot beeped loudly and pointed to the main view screen. Something was coming out of the center of the explosion.

* * *

Emerging from the fireball was a giant mech. It was humanoid in shape, deep navy blue with silver trim, had dual shoulder-mounted cannons behind it. On its forearms was a pair of double-edged blades that glowed with a blue-green light and a horn protruding from the forehead.

"What is that?" Meia asked in confusion at what she was seeing.

Jura's eyes widened at what was in front of her.

"Okay...What. The. Fuck!?" Valkyrie muttered in disbelief.

"Told you it wasn't over!" Fenrir said.

"What is THAT?! Is that another secret weapon of the men?!" Magno asked in awe.

"Is this… a real miracle?" Buzam wondered.

The new mech flew towards the enemy ship as it ripped off the burning tendrils from its chest. Several smaller attack drones were deployed to stop it, but those were swept away like little gnats or shot down by Fenrir and Valkyrie who quickly flew in to stop them from getting in its way. The ship then tried to seal itself by closing its maw, but the machine simply pried the ship wide open by using its bladed hands. Then the mammoth cannons went into position on the shoulders, pointing forward into the ship. The cannons powered up and unleashed a powerful blast which caused the back of the ship to bulge out.

The mech then moved backwards as the ship exploded. The female pirates and Bart were in awe at the sight before them. When it was all over, the only thing left was a burned out wreck with cube fighters shutting down.

"That robot has quite the firepower! Good thing it's on our side." Valkyrie commented.

Fenrir nodded, "Indeed."

Within the giant mech, Hibiki had his eyes closed as he sighed in relief.

"I made it! I really made it!" he thought. It was finally over. But when he opened his eyes it was then that something caught his attention. He saw a smaller lighter skin tone hand intertwined with his on a control pad.

"What the heck is going on here?!" he shouted.

Hibiki realized that something was sitting on top of him and started panicking when he recognized what or rather who was on his lap!

"Hmmmm. I just knew that Mr. Alien would protect us." Dita said, as she was half-asleep as she leaned back onto Hibiki's chest and snuggled closer.

Hibiki felt very uncomfortable as held back a cry.

"Is this…the proof of my existence?!" he asked in disbelief.

The pirate crew all crowded the hanger and waited as Meia and Jura's dreads along with the giant Vandread and the advanced fighter jets came in for a landing on the deck. Just as the giant mech was about to land, it suddenly shifted back into Dita's Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard. As soon as they all landed, Sol and Nevan typed a series of commands in their consoles before they stepped out of their jets. They got out in time to see Hibiki collapsing on the deck in exhaustion. They then noticed the pirate captain waiting and made their over to her.

"Take them back to the cell." Magno said. "Gently." she added as she regarded the unconscious Hibiki.

However the guards were forced to stop as Sol and Nevan had drawn their .45 ACP pistols and pointed them at the guards and Magno.

"Captain!" Meia yelled as she pointed her laser ring at the twin pilots, "Drop your weapons now!"

"How about you go kill yourself you fucking pirate!" Nevan replied in disgust.

"What's the meaning of this, Magno?!" Sol demanded.

"Just a safety precaution. We are pirates after all and while we know that you two are not from Tarak or Mejere, I'm afraid we still have to treat you as our prisoners for now." Magno said.

Nevan scoffed, "We risked our lives out there to defend you all and you repay us by double-crossing us!? Looks like the phrase 'no honor among thieves' still holds."

"It definitely holds, sister." Sol said, "It definitely holds." He then put his gun down and kicked it over to one of the security guards. Nevan did the same though she hesitated.

"I'm glad you are willing to cooperate." Magno said.

"Spare us your crap Magno! I don't want to hear it." Sol said while restraining his anger.

As the guards restrained the Antares pilots and picked up Hibiki, Nevan looked at Magno and the crew with murder in her blood-red eyes before they were all escorted away. When they were out of the hangar, BC turned to face Magno.

"Are you sure that was a good idea? Locking them up with the men, especially since they are not from Tarak or Mejere." she asked.

"I'm sure. Besides I still have more questions for them that I hope they'll answer and I'll no longer treat them as prisoners after." Magno replied.

"Let's hope they cool off after we tell that to them because I have a feeling we really kicked the hornet's nest with that move." BC said.

"I just hope that we didn't." Magno said and then turned to Parfet.

"Parfet, I would like for you to study the changes made to the three dreads and vanguard along with those two fighter jets. Meet us later after making an assessment." Magno directed.

The chief engineer acknowledged with a nod and called out to her staff to begin their task.

The old woman briefly took one last look at the machines before her, particularly the Vanguard and the two advanced fighters before heading back to the bridge.

* * *

**The Mejere pirates, the Tarak men and the Antares Squadron survive their first battle and got to see the skills of the two pilots and their advanced fighter planes in action. They also find out that Sol and Nevan are brother and sister and also twins. Unfortunately at the end the two now feel betrayed by Magno and it could lead to trouble down the line.**

**XMAA or AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air to Air Missile): Special weapons in the Ace combat games starting from Ace Combat 4. It is able to lock on to 4 targets and are stronger than the standard missiles.**

**LSWM (Long Range Shock Wave Missile): It is a special weapon present in Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception and Ace Combat X2: Joint Assault on the PSP. It is a downsized version of the Shock Wave Ballistic Missile used by the airborne fortress Gleipnir in Ace Combat X and is only compatible with the super planes Fenrir and the GAF-1 Varcolac.**

**TLS (Tactical Laser System): Famous special weapon used by the ADF-01 FALKEN and ADFX-01/02 Morgan planes. Those who have played Ace Combat Zero, Five, X and Joint Assault should already know about the destructive power of this weapon.**

**COFFIN (Connection for Flight Interface): A control system designed for flying an aircraft through a neural connection with the vehicle. Featured on many of the super planes like the Fenrir, ADF-01 FALKEN, ADFX-01/02 Morgan, and is prominent in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere.**

**Read and Review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 3: Hostility**

* * *

Somewhere in the galaxy, the newly combined vessel, comprising of the Mejerian pirates' vessel and the old section of the Ikazuchi, now completely engulfed in a crystal like cocoon by the Paksis, drifted aimlessly in space near the wreckage of the enemy ship from the last battle. Inside the conference room of the new vessel, the captain of the pirate crew Magno, her first officer BC /Buzam Calessa, and the Dread Squadron leader Meia Gisborn are having a meeting about their current situation.

"Our entire ship has been completely swallowed up. The bridge, residential, and engine room have been engulfed by the crystals. Fortunately the Dread Platform and the Reg systems suffered no damage. We're currently cleaning up the mess and installing the new database." BC said before the monitor behind her changed to a different scene.

"The Paksis seems to have finally reached its peak, the bridge has stopped sliding and is currently situated above the ship's garden. All changes to the ship have apparently ceased. Your report Meia?"

Meia took the floor to give her own report.

"Thank you Buzam. The three dreads that were absorbed and transformed by the Paksis Pragma no longer fit in our standard Dread Platforms; we modified the cargo bay on the Men's side and had them stored there. During the modifications we learned that the ship hasn't been used for quite a long time. The circuits, cables, and wires are decayed and useless."

"The real problem is our current location." BC added, activating a holographic map from the table in the meeting room. "It's hard to believe, but we're a very long way from Mejere, in fact we're in a completely different nebula. It will take at least approximately two-hundred and seventy days to return home."

Magno sighed at the news, as she tried to cool herself off with a small fan. "What did we do to deserve being swept across the galaxy?"

She then turned to address Meia. "Any word about our enemy?"

"My team is understaffed so I sent some…volunteers to investigate the wreckage." Meia replied somewhat sheepishly which peeked the old woman's interest.

"Volunteers? Who?" Magno asked.

* * *

Out in space a familiar blue dread was flying towards the wreckage from the last battle. Inside the dread is the ever happy redhead Dita Liebely and the Reg Central head Gascogne Rheingau.

"Wow! This is so exciting! I get to see the inside of a UFO...Oh, look at that! It's an Adamsky-type UFO! Did you see it Ms. Gasco?" Dita cried out in excitement.

Gascogne sighed as she sat behind Dita onboard the lively girl's dread fighter. It was going to be a long investigation in the mind of the older woman.

* * *

In the bridge, the bridge operators were busy trying to fight off the intense heat while staying on duty.

A dark-skinned girl with long hair in hoops and braids named Amarone Slatheav, turned to look at Ezra wondering why she seemed more tired than usual.

"Are you feeling alright, Ezra?" she asked.

Ezra looked up, panting lightly from the heat. "Oh I'm fine, thank you."

"What's going on with the air conditioning?" A blonde girl named Belvedere Coco sighed as she tried to fan herself with a small piece of card like paper. She then looked down at her console and contacted the engineers down in the Paksis reactor room. "Could you do something about the heat? It's eighty-two degrees up here!"

"It's eighty-six down here! So stop complaining and endure it!" One of the engineers replied to Belvedere's complaint as another one to the left of her looked at her.

"Still no response. Are you having any luck over there Parfet?"

"This system is ancient, maybe it's a prototype. That would explain all the problems we are having wouldn't it?" Parfet pondered, but before the engineer could respond she turned as she heard a call for help from one of her comrades. The women that called was struggling to keep the Navi-robot still to use as a link between the Paksis and interpret the data, however the robot was far from cooperative.

"Let go of me!" It cried out.

"Come on stop moving, how can we download the data if you make it impossible?!" The engineer reprimanded as she struggled to restrain the uncooperative Navi bot.

* * *

While her fellow crew mates worked, Paiway was sitting at the edge of a construction elevator with a rope firmly tied around her waist as she wrote on her notepad.

"As the brave crew takes over the enemy ship, Magno's family finds themselves facing an entirely new crisis!" she monologue out loud while writing in her journal about the recent turn of events for the Magno pirates.

"Paiway, if you don't have something to do why not help out around here!" A crew member said as she was going over the inventory to make sure everything was in order as it was moved.

"I am doing something." the girl countered without looking.

"Hey wait up! We need a lift!" Barnette shouted getting on the elevator with Jura not far behind her. They dropped their bags while looking at the young nurse.

"Fooling around again?!" Barnette accused questioningly as Paiway just put her hand inside her frog back pack and talking in a deeper voice while moving the mouth.

"Barnette and Jura sure have a lot of stuff!" She then looked to the little puppet. "I'm glad are rooms are fine so we don't have to move, Ribbit."

"She's pushing my buttons." Jura scowled.

"You're not helping matters." Barnette scolded in agreement with Jura.

Then she noticed the rope around Paiway's waist.

"Hey Paiway. Why is that rope tied to you?" Barnette asked as the younger girl smiled.

"This elevator is only temporary; if it falls, you're on your own. See you later!" Paiway giggled and waved as she was lifted off the platform by someone pulling the rope leaving behind the two Dread pilots.

"You're kidding right?!" Jura asked nervously with wide eyes.

"PAIWAY!" Barnette called out.

* * *

In the brig the women were hosing down the male prisoners who were now only in their under-garments as part of their 'decontamination' process. An agitated Hibiki and hysterical Bart were complaining and scurrying about like mice while Duero stood his ground. Sol however was incredibly pissed off and glared at the women with ice-cold eyes, intimidating a lot of them.

The girl who was meant to hose Sol down was one of those who were clearly intimidated by him as she hesitated to aim at him. Wanting to get it over with before he decided to get violent, Sol rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! Do what you have to do already!"

His outburst caused the other men and the women to stare at him. That made Sol even more pissed off and he shouted once more.

"ARE YOU DEAF?! JUST GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY!"

That got the girl to break out of her stupor and spray the water on him finally. He stood his ground unfazed by the cold water much to the surprise of everyone.

Meanwhile watching all of this going on from a holographic monitor in the conference room, Magno and Buzam were watching and contemplating their male prisoners.

"So these four are the only men left on board, is that right?" Magno asked.

"Yes, Captain. We'll have to depend upon them until we fully understand the new systems on this ship." BC answered.

Magno nodded.

"Yes, I have never seen anything like it before in my long years."

She recalled the memory of when Bart was pulled into the strange portal in the bridge. When the enemy was destroyed after, the ship went on full automatic standby mode and released Bart from it.

"It was as if the ship had a will of its own, very unnerving. And those two…"

She then recalled the twins Sol and Nevan and their demonstration of their combat skills and their advance fighter jets they flew in. She had to admit that those two were as good as they said they were and even better than their Dread squadron. However she was now worried about how she'll handle them after she had them locked up as prisoners and the twins became hostile.

Buzam was also thinking the same as she wondered whether it was a good idea for Magno to lock the twins up after it was proven that they were not from Tarak or Mejere but she also understood that it was a precaution until they were sure of that they were not a threat to them which could change very soon based on Sol and Nevan's reactions.

"Captain...are you sure that locking up the twins was a good idea? They could be very valuable allies to us or..."

"Our worst enemies. Yes I know BC. Their piloting skills are beyond question, however, I still have more questions for them and I want to see where their loyalties lie since they are mercenaries."

"Considering their situation, they only have us to trust since we're the only people they know and they have nowhere else to go. However that may be difficult to do now since they're not happy about how they were rewarded for helping us."

Magno nodded at her first officer's reasoning. Now she needed to find a way to rebuild the bridge that had been burned between the crew and the Antares pilots.

"BC. Bring those two to me. I'd like to talk with them and prevent this situation from getting worse."

* * *

In their cell, Bart was telling another one of his fake stories to his fellow prisoners. Duero was partly listening to humor him while paying attention to the environment around him and Sol Robben. Hibiki was dozing off while Sol was just sitting on down on the floor with his back on the wall, ignoring the blonde cadet. Nevan was sitting opposite her brother in the cell next to their own. The brother and sister were clearly pissed at the double-cross by the captain after they risked their lives to defend the ship from an unknown enemy without question.

"It was so unnerving! My comrades fell one after another all around me and before long I was the only left! And the one thing on my mind is how close I was to death! But I persevered because I knew it was my duty as a soldier of Tarak to live on and retake the ship from the women no matter the odds!"

"Man, this stinks! I thought I had changed my life but look how things turned out." Hibiki thought as he was still asleep, "But still what the heck..."

"Anyway what the heck happened back there?" asked Bart while he leapt off the box and looked toward Hibiki as he stood.

That snapped Hibiki out of his train of thought.

"Who made your vanguard and why did it combine with a Mejerian fighter?" Bart asked the younger pilot.

He then looked over and pointed at Sol. "And you and that woman's fighters are way too different from the dreads. Just what kind of ships are they?"

"Sorry but that's classified. So piss off!" Sol answered without looking at Bart.

Since it was clear that he was pissed off, Bart simply turned back to Hibiki for his answer.

Hibiki glared at him. "How should I know? Forget about that! Don't think I'm going to forgive for socking me before!"

"Calm down. There's no need to be upset I was only thinking of your best interest." Bart said while putting his hands up in defense.

Clearly a bad choice of words.

"You really don't know when to shut up do you? There's enough hot air in here as it is!" Hibiki snapped.

"And your shouting's not helping anyone! So shut up!" Nevan shouted from her cell.

"He's simply worried." Duero commented getting the attention of Bart and Hibiki, "He's trying to take his mind off of things through conversation, try to forgive him."

"Wow, you're pretty sharp. You must be one of the elite." Bart remarked clearly impressed. "So what do you think then? With my superior speaking abilities, your brains, and his-"

"Count me out of whatever stupid plan you've cooked up!" Sol said in anger, "Besides it's already an epic fail thanks to your big fat mouth! Next time you want to take on the enemy with your plan, make sure they don't get wind of it."

"Surely you're not going to tell them our plan?!" Bart asked in surprise.

"I don't have to since they're already here and listening to begin with." Sol replied as he stared out of the cell, "Right BC?"

"Right. And would you care to repeat that?"

Bart gulped and turned to see BC with a few female guards staring down at him.

"Oh nothing. We were just joking around." he replied with a nervous laugh.

"I'd like to hear your jokes. You'll come with me, won't you?" BC asked in mock politeness.

"Hee hee, I'd be happy to as long it's of social nature." Bart replied with a nervous smile.

BC then turned to look at Sol. "The same goes for you and your sister, Sol. The captain wants to talk to the two of you."

"How about you tell your captain to go hang herself!?" Nevan said with spite.

"Watch your mouth!" One of the guards warned.

Sol got off the floor and rose to his feet to look at BC.

"I agree with Nevan. Go ask your captain to give us a good reason to even talk with her. When you come back with a good reason then I'll consider talking to her."

* * *

Inside the wreck of the enemy mother ship, Gascogne looked at everything that she could see. The ship looked like someone stuffed one explosive pack into the mouth of the ship and blow it sky-high. She sighed and responded to the call of her commanding officer.

_"Gascogne, how are you coming along with your investigation of the alien wreck?"_

"This thing looks more like a giant factory then a space ship to me." Gascogne said.

_"Well? Found anything substantial?"_ Magno asked.

"We're searching through the ship's database right now but it's pretty hefty Captain." Gasco replied as she surveyed the site.

Suddenly Dita popped up from below Gasco's sight and in front of her, surprising the Reg leader.

"Hey Ms. Gasco! Would it be alright if I looked around for a while?" Dita asked excitedly.

Gasco scowled and flicked the glass of the girl's visor. "Absolutely not! We got work to do."

In the vacuum of space, this gentle yet firm push had sent the young redhead flying backwards. "Whoa! I can't stop!"

Magno chuckled at the sight, until she got contacted by Buzam.

"Yes BC?"

_"I brought our navigator here."_ The first officer said through the communicator.

Magno nodded. "I'll be right there."

She then looked back the monitor.

"I leave the investigation in your hands Gascogne."

_"Gotcha."_ Gascogne acknowledged.

After ending that conversation, Magno leaned into her chair as it moved back as a door opened, the seat rotated around as it descended before arriving at her station on the bridge. She saw Bart and Buzam but no sign of Sol and Nevan.

"Where are the twins BC?" she asked.

"They want nothing to do with you, captain." BC answered.

"I see..." Magno said, "I probably shouldn't be surprised by that."

Bart stared at Magno nervously, wondering what she wanted from him.

"Uh h-hello there! I hear you wanted something from me?" he asked getting the captain's attention.

Magno nodded, as she pointed her fan towards the platform where the navigation well was. "Yes. That thing. We haven't been able to interface into it and operate it, so tell us how you did it."

Bart gritted his teeth nervously as he thought of an answer. He quickly came up with an idea and smiled.

"Well of course I should, given the situation I have no choice." He raised his arms, flexing the cuffs indicating to BC that he needed his hands to be free. The first officer complied and activated the release for the manacles.

Rubbing his wrists lightly, Bart began to walk to the platform.

"Now listen very carefully. This is a male ship, so only men are capable of operating it." He turned to face them while walking backwards.

"So I suppose that it was rather fortunate for you all that you found me." he said, making sure to ensure that he is in disposable to the pirate crew's survival. While he was in the middle of his explanation he never noticed the pool within the platform reach out and grab his leg. "In fact you could say that I'm an indispensable- Gah!"

With a bright flash the pool fastened around Bart's leg and sucked the hapless man into the well again.

Magno sighed as she leaned back and shook her head. "I really don't understand this system at all."

* * *

Inside the navigation well, Bart found himself once again naked and surrounded in the holographic display of the outer environment of the ship.

"Uh ... Okay." Bart said looking around before he heard a noise, looking around the sphere shape that was the ships main control system. Without warning the ship's systems and main drive system came online and the vessel leaped forward and accelerated off in an unknown direction away from the wreck of the enemy vessel.

From the sudden jump the ship rocked and caught everyone off guard, the sudden movement knocking everyone who was standing off-balance and while sending anything not tied down scattering in several directions.

Jura and Barnette were thrown off their feet in the elevator and their possessions went scattering all over the place.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?!" Barnette screamed as she tried to regain her balance.

Everyone on the bridge braced themselves in their seats while B.C. struggled to keep from falling over.

"What's going on now?" Magno demanded.

Belvedere looked over her terminal. "The system just booted up Captain!"

Amarone started typing into her counsel after steadying herself. "Projecting current destination!"

Magno wasn't in a good mood as she got in touch with Bart at the navigation well.

"What in blazes did you just do in there?!" she shouted angrily.

"N-now hold on a minute!" Bart said as he began looking around, trying to reverse the sudden actions of the ship.

* * *

At the wreckage Gascogne and Dita were oblivious to the fact that their ship just took off without them just as they had finished collecting data from the wrecked ship.

"All right, we've got what we came here for. Let's hurry back to the ship, the sooner we're out of this wreck, the better off I'll be."

"Roger Miss Gasco."

Dita made her way to the opening that she and the head supplier had gone through. However, the moment she looked out to where their ship was, she gave a cry of shock as the didn't find the ship in the area…just empty space.

As soon as Gascogne arrived and saw the situation, she wasted little time and began to try to establish a communications link with the ship once more. She had been somewhat concerned when there was no response to her calls.

* * *

"Ms. Gasco? Dita? If you can hear me please respond!" Ezra cried as she tried to get in contact with the two stranded women but to no avail. Then her face flushed lightly as the young woman began to sweat profusely as her breathing became shallow bit by bit.

When no one heard a response Buzam turned to Belvedere.

"Release the markers, so we don't lose them."

"Roger!"

As Belvedere followed the order BC heard a person collapse and shout. She looked back in shock as she spotted Ezra passed out over her console, her skin drenched with sweat and her face flushed brighter as her panting became heavier.

"Ezra! What's wrong?"

* * *

Back at the brig, Sol sat in the corner of the cell as he endured the heat while keeping silent. Duero sat in the same spot as before. Hibiki slept against a crate with his head slightly hunched and Nevan too sat in the corner in her cell while staring at the ceiling and had zipped down her flight suit to waist level revealing a red tank top. They had already felt the ship shudder earlier when Bart managed to get the ship moving again.

It was now that Sol felt like someone was observing him and he had an idea who it was.

"You got something to say, Duero?" Sol asked.

"Yes, I was wondering about why you and your sister were acting hostile to the first officer and refusing to see the captain." Duero asked curiously.

"Simple. The captain is a no good double-crossing old hag." Sol answered bluntly.

"That's a colorful way to describe the captain." Duero said.

"That's him being nice. I have more than those words to describe that old woman." Nevan spoke up, "We risk our lives to defend the ship from the enemy in the last battle and we get rewarded by being locked up."

"Well we are considered prisoners to them, so it's not surprising that they are being cautious." Duero stated.

"Well that's because you three are from Tarak." Nevan replied, "Sol and I are not from this dimension, not to mention Tarak or Mejere. So I do not see the logic at all."

"I understand. But don't you think that you could have gone to talk to her when she called for you."

"No. Magno already burned the bridges between us and her crew with her foolishness." Sol said, "Unless she gives us a reason to trust her and the crew again we'll have nothing to do with them."

"I see. I won't go any further since I can see that this is a sensitive issue to the two of you." Duero finished. It was then that Hibiki started to mumble in his sleep which prompted the doctor to check on him.

"Grandpa..." Hibiki muttered as he awoke, only to widen his waking eyes at seeing Duero pressing his forehead against his own, prompting him to push him off in response.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Hibiki shouted, glaring at the stoic doctor.

"Just checking your temperature, that's all." Duero replied calmly.

"I'm alright doc, there's nothing wrong with me or anything." Hibiki replied rather timidly.

"Except you were mumbling in your sleep. Who's grandpa?" Duero asked suspiciously.

"Grandpa is just grandpa, he's no one special. He's the one who raised me ever since I was little." Hibiki replied blankly.

"Peculiar, I find it rather hard to believe that someone of the first generation would have contact with you." Duero stated curiously.

"You're called Duero, correct?"

The young doctor turned to see BC along with two other female guards staring at them.

"It's your turn to come with us."

Duero nodded his head and stood up to leave with them.

* * *

Back at the navigation well, Bart was in full panic mode as he saw just where the ship was heading towards…

"We're going in there?! How do I stop this crazy ship?!"

The ship didn't pay attention to his complaints and dove headlong into the mix of gases of the nebula's outer ring. Various chunks of ice and debris flew all around the ship and smacked into the hull of the fused vessel. Unfortunately for the cowardly Bart, due to the neural interface link between him and the ship, anything that collided with the ship came to hit him in the form of pain.

"Will somebody please raise the shields?!" he called out while rubbing his head after a chunk of ice collided with the ship.

* * *

Bart wasn't the only one with problems on the ship. At least ninety percent of all operating systems were offline. Parfet and the engineers battled against heat and exhaustion to deal with different issues such as the crystalline response being down by 45%, further dampening the amounts of power, and the temperature had risen. She went over to the engineer who was supposed to be checking the Navi-robot…only to find the robot mumbling the word sick further confusing her. Jura and Barnette found themselves trapped inside the elevator, buried underneath their own possessions. Meia on the other hand was in dismay as she had found out that the Dread platforms were also offline. That naturally meant that she couldn't send anyone to rescue Gascogne and Dita.

The doors to the medical bay hissed open as BC led Duero and the two guards in. At the end of the room was Ezra, who lay sleeping on a bed.

"She's running a fever and it won't go down. Will you take a look at her?" BC asked her with a hint of concern.

"That's curious," Duero stated, while staring at BC evenly. "I was under the impression that women's technology was quite advanced."

"Hmm," BC hummed with a small amused smile at the man's inquiry. "You really are one of the elite. Always probing for answers at every opportunity you have."

She remained silent for a moment before answering.

"Very well. Approximately ninety percent of our ship's systems are offline right now. Unfortunately that includes the medical ones. Is that enough information for you?"

Duero stared down at her with his expression unchanged.

Then he gave a small smile.

"I'll examine the patient."

Duero began to check on the young bridge operator. He was running a scanner on the young woman which showed an image of the woman's body and he seemed to note some very peculiar patterns and signals from within the female. Suddenly the power in the medical bay went out which prompted the doctor to lash out and snatch the communicator from the female guard to his right, ignoring her glare as he activated the device.

"Engineering I'm trying to work on a patient. Make power to the sick bay a priority."

"Hey we got our own problems here! I'd like to do that for you but it's just that I can't read men's language!" replied a frustrated Parfet on the communicator.

Duero looked to BC from the corner of his eyes. "If I was there I could read it for you."

BC smiled at the doctor in amusement. "Go right ahead."

* * *

The moment Duero stepped into Engineering, the reaction to his presence was simple.

"It's a man!" one of the engineers screamed as she caught sight of the young Tarakan doctor.

Parfet simply glanced at Duero and nodded her approval of his arrival.

"Oh, good. Come over here." She then led the doctor over to the work table where the little Navi robot was hooked up to one of the consoles. "I'm trying to check the status of the Paksis but I can't really do much with all this data if I can't read it."

"It's just a Hi-type number six." Duero replied as he examined the data being shown on the Navi robot's screen. He became rather curious about the little setup the engineer had going on. "What are you doing?"

"I haven't really figured out the exact reason, but this guy's and the Paksis's wavelengths are linked. I thought it'd make a good sensor but I can't read the display." Parfet explained.

Duero walked over and began typing into the robot's display while the engineer watched.

"How is it?"

"It appears some impurities are spreading within the main engine room, probably due to the sudden changes."

"As I understand it the system was originally designed to tap into the crystal and collect energy from its growth, but this reaction..."

"Perhaps it's due to the fusion of the two ships." Duero suggested.

Parfet nodded in agreement. "Probably. Do you know how to correct it?"

"I'm sorry but I happen to be a doctor not an engineer." Duero replied which seemed to slightly annoy Parfet.

"That's no excuse! Everything that moves is alive, that's what I believe anyway! And it's a doctor's duty to fix all living things, right?" she pouted in anger.

The feisty female engineer outburst peaked Duero's curiosity before he lazily smiled at her.

"You have a very interesting perspective." he replied as he removed his trench coat.

The ship rumbled as the vessel's lower section was fully immersed in the nebula, before the engines went on full shutdown. The ship was now propelled by pure momentum now.

"Captain, it seems that the engines have shut down." Amarone reported as she gazed at her terminal.

"Just when I get the good news that we've stopped, we find ourselves in a nebula of all the places." Magno said dryly as she was still being cooled by the ice pack over her head and the portable fan, before it shut down as well with her sighing in defeat.

"Captain! Sensors indicate that another section of the ship is now transforming again!" Belvedere reported.

Outside of the ship's hull, near the arm areas of the ship, new crystal formations appeared as the ship once more went into another transformation.

* * *

Back in engineering, Duero was busy monitoring the state of the ship. He was staring intensely at a countdown screen, which was stuck bouncing between forty four and forty three.

"The parameters of the ship are fluctuating erratically." Duero informed Parfet who was still working on the Navi robot behind him.

"I see," Parfet said, jotting data down on her clipboard as she studied the robot's progress. "Why is this happening all of the sudden?"

"Pyoro…" the small machine mumbled before shaking loose of the cords attached to it and releasing steam in their wake.

"I'm fine, thank you." Pyoro muttered as he began to "blush".

"What's with this thing?" Parfet asked.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the composition of the nebula." Duero stated.

"That's it!" Parfet exclaimed as she slammed a fist to her palm. "The ship must be getting rid of the built up impurities and neutralizing them all."

Duero nodded in agreement with her answer.

"Fascinating. It seems to behave like a living being."

Meanwhile the sections of the ship that were undergoing transformation started to crack and peel away revealing a more sleek and refined hull structure underneath.

* * *

"Captain, I have a suggestion for you." Buzam called in as she got into contact with the bridge and to her commanding officer through the active communication systems. She was currently in the sub-bridge of the former Ikazuchi colony ship.

"Go ahead BC." Magno sighed wearily with fatigue on her face as she continued to try her best to stay cool despite the intense heat.

"Our investigations have determined that male vanguard and those advanced fighters can launch without problems." she reported.

"I'm listening."

"It's a big risk, but we could have that man with the vanguard go out and use it to look for Dita and Gascogne."

"That's not a bad idea, but what about the twins?"

"Despite them already helping us, I figured that the vanguard pilot will be easier to manage especially since they're becoming hostile. Plus I thought it would be better for me to convince them to help Jura and Barnette. This way we can show that we trust them."

"You're probably right. Very well, I'll allow it."

"Acknowledged." But just as BC was about to sign off, Magno straightened up slightly as she noticed her second in command's location.

"By the way. What are you doing in the men's section of the ship?" the pirate captain asked.

For a few moments the vice-captain just stared at her superior then she blinked. "Just fulfilling my duty as your first mate. Over."

And with that she signed off.

The laser drill in Dita's hand hummed as it fired a beam into one of the many metal prongs that entrapped Gascogne. However the metal remained intact, much to their disappointment.

"It's not working at all!" Dita cried.

"Well this is really comfortable!" Gasco berated herself. "I can't believe I screwed things up this bad."

Dita stared at her superior with tearful eyes. "Hold on I'll go get the tools from the dread."

"Don't bother."

"What?"

"Did you forget our mission? We came here with a job to do and someone has to return with the data."

"But I can't just leave you here Ms. Gasco!" Dita said weakly.

"Who said you were leaving me here to rot?" Gascogne asked, giving Dita an assuring smile. "This isn't some third-rate soap opera. I want you to go back to the ship and get some help."

"Okay…," Dita muttered reluctantly. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."

With a thrust from her jetpack she launched herself out of the wreckage and towards the Dread. Just as she slipped inside and jettisoned herself into the swirling void, the ship began to hum with activity.

"Huh?" Gasco craned her head to see a squad of cube-types slip silently towards her.

"Looks like I've got company."

* * *

"ARGH! I can't take it anymore!" Hibiki shouted. Then he promptly took off his jacket and started to strip in effort to cool off.

Sol just ignored him as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He had already zipped down his flight suit to his waist showing his orange t-shirt.

"So what do you think they're going to do to us?" Nevan asked.

"Don't know. My guess is that they'll keep us here until the next time they get attacked and they'll need our help to defend them again. Bloody double-crossing bastards." Sol answered.

After he relieved himself of his clothes Hibiki flopped himself on the floor lying on his back.

"Hoooootttttt!" Hibiki moaned, wearing nothing but a loin cloth and his clothes stacked under his head like a pillow.

"My, my what an interesting outfit." spoke a familiar feminine voice.

Sol and Hibiki perked up as a shadow descended upon them and looked up to see the familiar silver haired woman in front of them.

"So it's our turn to go with you huh?" Hibiki asked with a snarl.

"On the contrary, I came to ask you three a favor." said BC with a smile.

Hibiki looked at her suspiciously.

"A favor?"

"I'm going to be honest with you we left a two of our crew behind I want you to go rescue them." BC said looking at Hibiki.

"As for you, another two of our crew members, Barnette and Jura, are trapped in a stuck elevator. I would like for you and your twin sister to get them out." BC said looking at Sol and pointing at the cell with Nevan in it.

Sol just glared at her. "Why are you asking us to help you retrieve the two pilots outside or to save the two stuck in an elevator. Don't you have people to spare for those tasks?"

"That's because our main Dread Platform is offline, so we can't send out any of our own dreads to retrieve our missing crew and everyone else has their hands full in trying to resolve our current crisis. However, with that vanguard of his, he can easily use the still functioning vanguard launch platform and go look for our missing crew members. And you two can save the other two trapped on the elevator. I know that you're still angry at us for treating you both like prisoners but even I did not like what Magno did to you and if it was up to me I wouldn't have done that. I was hoping to convince you to help us since I trust you and your sister after you proved yourselves to us even though you're mercenaries."

"Oh and after we do that you'll lock us back in once more right?" Nevan asked, "Nice try but why should we even consider helping you."

"Ha! That's right, give us one good reason why we should even help you!" Hibiki scoffed as he looked away with a smug smirk.

BC frowned and was about to say something when Sol interrupted her.

"We'll do it."

"What?" BC, Nevan and Hibiki asked in surprise.

"We'll go and get those two women stuck in the elevator. But under certain conditions."

"Brother? What are you doing?" Nevan asked in surprise.

"Stand down Nevan and let me handle this." Sol ordered.

"What will those conditions be, Sol?" BC asked.

"First you stop treating us like prisoners since we're not from your planets. Second none of your crew tamper with our fighter jets unless we say otherwise and the third, well that one I'll have to clarify with her."

"And what do we get out of this deal?" BC asked curiously.

"Simple. You get the services of Antares Squadron until we make it back to Tarak and Mejere." Sol answered, "That all depends on the last part of our deal though."

Buzam thought it over for a moment and nodded.

"Fine, I'll clear it with the Captain later, but only after you rescue our crew." she said with a serious face.

"Good. Now where's the elevator located?" Sol said as he stood up.

BC deactivated the laser bars of the cells for him and Nevan to step out. Then she gave Sol a small map.

"This will show you which section to go to but you better hurry since we don't know how long that elevator will hold out." BC directed urgently.

"Alright. Nevan, let's go." Sol ordered.

"Right behind you brother." Nevan acknowledged as they both left the brig to where the two trapped female crew members were.

BC then turned her attention to Hibiki.

"What about you?" she asked looking down at him questioningly.

"Hmph! I still haven't heard why I should help you." Hibiki snorted.

"This is no time for men and women to be fighting each other." BC reprimanded with a frown, "You saw it, didn't you? That unidentified enemy? I thought you'd be willing able to help us since you defeated them before."

Hibiki glared at her and scoffed.

"The strong are supposed to help the weak, at least that is what I've heard is common sense in a man's world. But I guess not." BC dismissed him as she turned to leave.

"Fine!" Hibiki snapped as he sat up, getting her attention, "I've already shown you a side of me that I probably shouldn't have. But I'm not gonna do this again. I'm not going to give in to your threats anymore!"

"Oh am I threatening you?" BC asked casually as she turned back to look at him, "It wasn't intended that way."

* * *

"Look at this. The intake and outtake ratio is off." Duero pointed out.

"That's because there are not enough link routes!" Parfet said at her own end of the monitor.

"But the current ones can't handle the stress."

"Don't give up like that! There has to be an answer!"

Duero stared at her before looking down in thought, his hand cupping his chin. His eyes widened as an idea came to mind. The ship was acting like a human body, the sudden heat going through out the ship was a fever which would explain it flying into the nebula, to cool itself to combat the heat and stop the entire system from overheating while the link routes acted like arteries which transferred white blood cells to where it's needed. But in this case it's transferring power to the built up impurities.

With this theory he looked to Parfet.

"How about a bypass then? When there is a blocked artery we simply create a different route for it." Duero suggested.

Parfet smiled as she understood what the doctor had in mind and balled up her right hand and firmly placed in the palm of her left.

"A detour huh? Great idea!" she complimented enthusiastically.

She walked up to him and patted his left shoulder in approval. "You know something… you wouldn't make a bad engineer!"

Parfet turned and directed her attention to her staff and began giving new orders. "Listen up, everybody! It's time for us to get busy!"

Duero looked around him briefly before looking down at his shoulder and lightly placed his hand where she touched him and contemplated Parfet's touch.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the bridge trouble was brewing as things took a turn for the worst.

"Something's on an intercept course!" Amarone announced with a gasp as she looked at the sensors display.

"What is it this time?" the captain growled.

"An asteroid sized ice mass is on a collision course with this ship Captain!" Amarone reported as her sensors confirmed the object was heading for the ship.

"Did you hear that? Do something now!" Magno shouted at Bart who was still in the navigation well.

"AHHHHHH!" Bart screamed as he also spotted the incoming asteroid. "Help me! Get me out of here!"

* * *

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOO!" Dita cried out as she was now running for her life, as three enemy fighters were chasing her and taking pot shots at her Dread. She used every evasive maneuver she had learned from her fellow dread pilots and her comrade and leader Meia and every other maneuver she could think of at the moment. But the alien fighters remained behind her and had no intention of letting the young redhead escape.

Gascogne looked in morbid fascination and amazement as she observed the alien cube fighters giving chase to Dita and the smaller drones beginning their repairs and re-activating their mother ship with clean-cut efficiency while she remained trapped within her pillar like prison. Confirming her suspicions that the so called alien vessel was actually a massive mobile factory.

"What the hell are these things? They can regenerate even under these conditions?" She asked out loud in slight astonishment.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she caught movement through the corner of her eye, she turned and saw a cube drone of a very large variety and rather ominous moving towards her. The machine looked like some massive bug, with a massive array of clawed appendages, and two large soulless eyes focusing solely on her. She had a very accurate idea that this machine wasn't here to have a chat with her.

Gascogne laughed nervously as she focused her own gaze at the mechanized drone.

"I guess I know what you want for dinner." she joked lightly as she stared at the machine in fear.

At the same time Dita was trying to avoid the shots from the cubes chasing her as best as she could but was having little success.

"I really hate aliens who don't know when to stop!" she cried but stopped when she looked down at her radar to see another approaching blip heading for her.

"From the front too?!" Dita asked in growing panic.

At that instant, one of the fighters pursuing her managed to hit near her dread causing the fighter to be rocked by the hit and making Dita accidentally activate her ship's weapons and firing them. Twin beams of destruction lanced forward and caused a small explosion some distance away from her as soon as they struck their target.

They discharged with a flash of light then she looked up and prayed they were gone. But, out of the darkness a red giant machine appeared.

"HEY YOU! IS THAT ANY WAY TO THANK SOMEONE WHO CAME ALL THE WAY OUT TO GET YOU?!" Hibiki shouted as his image flashed on her computer.

Hibiki's vanguard was little red from the heat of Dita's misfires but it was no worse for wear but apparently he was more than a little ticked at being shot at by her.

Dita however became overjoyed at seeing him. "Mr. Alien!"

She then accelerated her Dread towards the vanguard.

"G-Get away!" the young pilot stuttered as he activated his machine's braking thrusters to decelerate.

But apparently his protest fell on deaf ears as Dita came ever closer.

"You came all this way to save me didn't you? You really are a good alien!" she said as she continued to charge at him while Hibiki began to panic as he wildly flapped his machine's arms and legs.

"Would you knock that OFF!" he screamed but it was too late as with a flash of light the vanguard and dread fused to create the giant blue Vandread from before.

"Oh, wow! What is all this?" Dita asked in delight as she tried to gaze at everything she could see, as she now sat on Hibiki's lap in the cockpit of the massive mech.

"H-Hey! Would you quit moving around?" Hibiki demanded. He didn't like the way she was moving and squirming on his lap for a second, as her movements on his lap started to make him feel weird.

The young Dread pilot smiled as she turned to look at Hibiki right in the eyes.

"I want you to know that I believed in you. I knew that no mattered what happened you would come to rescue me." she said with utter sincerity.

"Hmm!" he grunted. "I didn't come here to rescue you. I was just looking for you."

He looked away with a neutral expression.

"Well, thank you." Dita whispered happily to him though blissfully unaware of how her smile was affecting the young pilot.

Gascogne was definitely not liking her situation as it unfolded in front of her. The machine began to efficiently cut away the tendrils that held her. She knew that it was only doing so to get to her.

"You guys work pretty efficiently." she began, trying to smile in this time of crisis. "We could use some hard workers like you."

Gasco tried to sound confident which was a sharp contrast to the fear she was feeling as the automaton came closer to her.

The machine ignored her as it cast another prong aside as it simply extended a massive wicked looking appendage and stretched it towards her.

By now, Gascogne was sweating. "So it's finally my turn, huh?"

However, the automaton couldn't reach her, as the thing was suddenly swallowed by something metallic and rather huge. It was instantly crushed into a mangled mess of parts as Gascogne looked up and saw the Vandread in front of her as it crushed the drone in its fist before the machine exploded. She sighed with relief, as she was now sure that Dita had brought in the cavalry.

"You guys put off saving me until the last possible moment, but I guess I couldn't have asked for a better ending than this one." she said with appreciation in her voice.

* * *

Meanwhile Sol and Nevan arrived at the elevator shaft.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to agree to help BC?" Nevan asked.

"The fact I agreed to do so doesn't mean I trust her. I can tell that she didn't agree with Magno's decision when I saw her face. At least she's honest about that." Sol answered.

"Maybe but does that mean we can trust Magno to agree to our conditions?" Nevan said, "What's stopping her from double-crossing us again?"

"She's on thin ice with us and if she tries that again then she'll regret it in a hurry. Alright we're here." Sol ended the conversation as he heard a young woman calling out.

"IS ANYONE OUT THERE? SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!"

Running over to where the voice came from Sol and Nevan peered over the edge saw Jura whom they met earlier when they first met on the Ikazuchi and another woman they'd never seen before.

She looked younger than Nevan and had dark green short-cropped hair which was kept in place by a purple headband in her hair and she had deep violet eyes. She also wore a purple flight suit that matched her eyes and showed all of her well-defined curves and swells to the fullest, this suit also had an open front that displayed to top areas of her bosom's cleavage and her healthy white skin tone. And she also wore over the knee boots that ended just a few inches below her suit which showed a portion of her long slender legs.

"Nevan. See if you can find something that can help." Sol requested.

His twin sister didn't take long to do that as she found a rope lying nearby.

"I found a rope but we'll need more than just that." she said as she looked around before she found a pipe hanging out of the wall and quickly tied the end of the rope to it. After making sure it was safe to climb with she went to join her brother at the edge.

"Hey down there!" Sol shouted getting the two women's attention.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING OUT OF YOUR CELL?!" Barnette screamed angrily.

"We were sent to get you two out of that elevator!" Sol yelled back. He then threw the rope down to the two women.

"No! We don't need your help!" Barnette snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest in contempt.

Sol and Nevan looked at her with deadpan looks.

"Well then that's not a problem. When you two fall to your deaths in that elevator, that'll be less bigots for us to deal with." Nevan stated, "And when you end up in the afterlife you can explain to God why you let your bigotry stop you from accepting our help."

Barnette was about reply with an angry retort but was interrupted by a terrified Jura.

"I'M COMING!" Jura shouted as she went first, climbing it quickly and got pulled up by Sol when she reached the top.

"You're next." Sol called down to a hesitant Barnette.

Barnette looked reluctantly at the rope for a moment which ticked Sol off.

"Look! This elevator's going to fall! We're giving you a way out and you're stalling?!" he deadpanned.

With that Barnette climbed the rope and as she reached the top she stopped when Sol held his hand out to her. Barnette foolishly slapped his hand away only to lose her grip.

"Barnette!" Jura cried in alarm as her friend fell back and was about to fall to her death. But she did not because of Nevan's intervention.

"Are you stupid?! Do you want to die so badly because my brother tried to save you?!" Nevan snapped through gritted teeth after catching her. Barnette was shocked at being saved by a woman who claimed that the man here was her brother. Nevan then pulls her up and back on the solid ground.

"Who sent you to rescue us?" Jura asked.

"The second in command known as BC." Nevan replied.

At that moment the elevator groans then dropped rapidly with the metal screeching and producing sparks as it fell until it hit the bottom of the shaft, shattering upon impact with a deafening crash.

Out of reflex, the two women jumped and let out a scream of fright with Barnette bumping into something which made her instinctively close her eyes and clutched onto it tightly.

After a moment she then heard her friend Jura and Nevan gasp and she opened her eyes to see what was happening. She turned her head toward Jura and Nevan who had their mouths open and their eyes wide with shock which prompted Barnette to look back at what had alarmed her friend. When she did it was at that point that she finally noticed, with wide eyes, in shock as to what or rather who she had been holding on to.

Sol looked at Barnette with a confused look on his face as he tried to avoid blushing in embarrassment.

_'Okay...this is awkward...'_ He thought as he gazed at Barnette's widened eyes.

_'I'm hugging a man!'_ Barnette thought before she fainted into Sol's arms.

_'Now this is very awkward!'_ Sol thought, much more confused.

Nevan whistled at him to get him out of his stupor and grinned at him.

"Looks like a certain wolf's in heat." she said in a sing-song tone.

"Not. Helping. Nevan." Sol deadpanned.

"Well thank you for saving us!" Jura said with a smile, "You two are the pilots I met earlier, right? And is it true that you both are brother and sister?"

"You're welcome and yes you're right on both." Nevan replied, "My name's Nevan Robben and he's my older twin brother Sol Robben. And you're?"

"Jura Basil Eden." Jura introduced herself, "And that's my friend Barnette Orangello."

"Nice to meet you Jura." Sol said in a polite tone stunning Jura and making her smile afterwards.

"Well aren't you polite." she said and then turned to Nevan, "You definitely have a polite brother here Nevan."

"Of course I do." Nevan said with pride.

Shaking his head, Sol holds Barnette bridal-style as he heads to the infirmary with Jura and Nevan following him.

* * *

"We've managed to secure up to thirty-six bypasses over here." Parfet announced as she typed on her computer, "How about you?"

Duero was working on Pyoro, leaning over its opened stomach with a power tool in hand.

"Not much else I can do here. We'll have to make do with what we have." he said as he continued to work.

"No way! We'll throw the balance ratio off completely if there aren't enough detours!" Parfet complained.

Duero looked back at the engineer leader.

"Do you know what doctors do in similar situations like this?" he asked.

"Huh?" she looked up as he smiled.

"We believe in our patient's will to live."

The female engineer smiled and nodded.

* * *

In the bridge, the crew frantically tried to avoid the incoming disaster which is the massive chunk of ice continued its path of collision with the fused vessel.

"The ice mass is getting closer!" Amarone urgently reported.

"No response from the Paksis! We have no control!" Belvedere cried in alarm.

"Distance twelve thousand and closing…"

The old captain growled in frustration, but stopped when she realized her fan had turned back on. The ship shook slightly as power filtered back into it.

Belvedere gasped in surprise as her computer screen lit up.

"The system just booted back up!" Belvedere cried out in joy as she checked the readouts on her console.

* * *

Back in engineering, Pyoro became active once more, stood up on its feet and smartly saluted to both Duero and Parfet.

"Beep! I'm back in service!"

"Alright! We did it! The system is back to normal! Are we good or what?" Parfet whooped with joy as she reached out clasped Duero's hand in her own, then she looked down at both their hands for a moment and blushed as she gazed briefly at the doctor.

Duero also felt odd as he was torn between gazing at his hand held in Parfet's own and her face.

Back in the bridge Magno stood from her chair.

"HARD TO STARBOARD, THIRTY DEGREES!" she ordered Bart. Unfortunately the cowardly helmsman screamed in fear and braced himself for impact.

Then, there came a massive explosion in front of the vessel, but it wasn't the asteroid colliding with the ship.

Noticing the lack of pain, Bart opened his eyes and looked up in front of him. taking a closer look, he saw that the asteroid was no longer there and in its place was the Vandread in front of the vessel.

"Hmph! So he saves the day again!" Bart said with disdain.

* * *

Emerging from the nebula cloud, the now fully fused ship made its way through space in a light blue and silver color scheme and looking more slipstream and refined.

BC enters the bridge with Magno sitting in her seat.

"The captain and I just concluded our meeting." BC explained over the intercom. "We've decided to inform the entire crew on our current situation. Upon analyzing the data we retrieved from the enemy wreckage we gathered some intelligence about our enemy. I'd like you all to take a look at this image."

An image of a brown barren planet that was surrounded by a transparent yellow sphere with black gear-like objects on it showed up.

"This is the enemy's home planet. We don't know its exact location but they seem to have quite a lot of firepower." she continued, "We are currently in this enemy's territory and they are attacking us because they believe our presence to be hostile. For this reason, we expect more battles with this enemy to occur during our return to Mejerian space. We've also learned something else from the data, our enemy is about to launch a full scale operation which calls upon the destruction of our home world Mejere as well as the male's world of Tarak. Our faceless enemy is for some unknown reason is planning for the complete annihilation of our home planets!"

Then the captain took over.

"We are pirates and as such our loyalties are not bound to either Mejere or Taraak. However, it would not be in our best interests for this unknown and hostile force to wipe out our potential customers. Therefore, I plan to reach our home system before the enemy does and inform both our worlds of this crisis. In order for this mission to be successful, we must incorporate the men and the twin pilots we have captured into our crew."

The whole crew was shocked by that statement while the Robben twins kept deadpan looks.

_'What are you planning Magno?'_ Nevan thought in suspicion.

_'You think that making us a part of the crew is enough to undo your double-cross? THINK AGAIN.'_ Sol thought in anger.

"Heh. So you finally see things my way." Bart said, smiling smugly as he lied on the floor with his back near the navigational well.

"There are many things that we don't understand, such as this ship and that large machine." Magno continued, But I'm sure we will learn about these one day at a time as we continue on our journey. I expect the full cooperation of the entire crew. That is all!"

As soon as she shut off the comm-link Ezra, Duero, and the two guards entered the bridge. As soon as the ship's systems were in full operational condition, Duero returned to the medical bay and finished his examination of Ezra's odd condition.

"I'm sorry I was down before." Ezra apologized as gave a short bow to the old woman. "I'll be returning to my station now."

BC directed her attention to the young Tarak medic.

"So did you find the cause of Ezra's fever?"

Ezra wrung her hands nervously.

"Well…you see…the reason is…" she started but Duero interrupted her.

"There appears to be some sort of parasitic organism feeding off my patient's body internally."

That statement alarmed Magno as she looked at the gentle woman, but Ezra shook her head while trying to hide her blushing face.

"No! You're mistaken!" she quickly corrected before turning back to the rest of the bridge crew, "Well…you see. It seems… I'm going to have a baby!"

Magno relaxed when she heard that statement and smiled at Ezra, while Belvedere, Amarone, the rest of the bridge crew, and even the two guards became very excited and squealed with delight as they crowded around the soon mother-to-be.

"Ezra, when in the world did you become a fahma?!" Belvedere asked with joy coating her voice.

"So who's the ohma?!" Amarone asked with equal joy.

All this naturally confused Bart, as he was not aware of the birthing methods on the home planet of the women. "But I thought that babies were born in a factory."

Duero also pondered this information for a moment. "Come to think of it, I have heard a rumor that females reproduced internally."

Ezra turned her head at Magno. "Captain please forgive me. I'm sorry, I was planning to tell you after we finished the raid on the men before, but…"

Magno smiled gently at her. "There's nothing to apologize for, Ezra. I hope that you have a healthy baby."

"Jeez Ezra, why didn't you say something before?" Amarone asked while relieved.

"C'mon Ezra tell us! Who's the ohma?" Belvedere asked her eagerly.

"What is that exactly?" Duero asked with genuine interest.

The three women looked at Duero.

"The ohma is the one who donates the egg and the fahma is the one who nurtures it in her womb. Don't you know anything?" Belvedere asked the doctor.

"This is the first time I've heard of it." Duero admitted.

"We certainly have our share of things to be surprised about today, right BC?" Magno asked her first mate.

"Er, yes! Certainly Captain!" BC answered in surprise.

"The whole crew will have to work as hard as they can, especially for the new life that will be joining us." the old pirate said with a small smile.

"Right. It appears this is going to be an interesting trip." Buzam added.

"Yes, it will be a long journey indeed." Magno nodded.

* * *

**Looks like hostilities are building up between the Robben twins and the crew. Will Magno and the crew be able to repair the burnt bridges between them and the twin pilots or would things get worse.**

**Read & Review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 4: Necessity of Teamwork**

* * *

It had been a week since the captain's announcement to assimilate the male prisoners of Tarak and the Robben twins into their crew. Of course the Mejerian crew of women were shocked by this news but they somewhat understood why.

Duero proved himself as a doctor and aided the women no matter what and was made the crew's chief medical officer. He was also open-minded and calm about the situation he was in.

Bart became the helmsman of the ship since he was the only person who could get it to work anyways for some reason. Apart from being cautious around the women, he was unusually talkative around Magno and BC.

Hibiki, while brash and arrogant, was capable of piloting the Vanguard unit and so was assigned to work with the Dread Squadron.

Finally there was the Antares Squadron pilots and twins Sol and Nevan Robben who had helped to defend the ship with their fearsome skills as pilots and helped with rescuing Jura and Barnette from the elevator. However they were not friendly to many of the crew members except a few of them such as Duero, the bubbly redhead Dita, Gascogne from Reg Central, Ezra, Jura and Parfet.

The crew were not comfortable around the older brother Sol because of his cold attitude towards them. The women had tried to put him in his place on more than one occasion and Sol had shown them that he was someone to not mess with and would not take crap from anyone, easily intimidating many of them and it took a lot of his discipline to not lose his temper and send some of them to Duero.

Nevan however the women could get along with though they did not like that she wasn't from Mejere. The younger Robben was still cautious around the women since she wasn't so eager to trust any of them. Some of the women had tried to get her to disown her twin brother, one of those women being Barnette, and Nevan did not take that well and it showed when Duero had to work overtime to treat some of the Mejere crew for severe injuries courtesy of Nevan beating those women within an inch of their lives.

The two pilots still did not have any love for Magno after what she pulled on them last time. The only reason why they were still even on talking terms not to mention being cooperative with her was because of the deal they made in their last meeting.

(Flashback (1 week ago))

_After Magno had made her announcement, Sol had approached her to talk about the terms BC had told her about and they went to do so in the conference room._

_"Once again I'd like to apologize for how I treated you two after that last battle. I'm sure you'd understand that I was just trying to be safe." Magno said._

_"Sure apologize for double-crossing us but that doesn't mean that we'll become friendly with you." Nevan replied._

_"I know that. I just had to let you know."_

_"Well now you're on thin ice with us. So watch yourself Magno." Sol said, "Now can we get down to business?"_

_"Yes, now BC informed me about the deal you wanted to make with us." Magno told him before resting her chin on top of her intertwined hands that were raised in front of her, "However, before I decide whether to accept your deal or not, I'd like to ask you a few questions first."_

_"As long as they are questions I can answer then no problem." Sol informed._

_"Why's that?" BC asked curiously._

_"Client confidentiality." Sol answered briefly._

_"I know that you mentioned it but considering where you are don't you think that your last contract has already expired considering that you're no longer in your dimension." Magno said._

_"It's called loyalty and trust. Something pirates tend to be wishy-washy with." Nevan mentioned._

_"Nevan stand down, please let me handle this." Sol ordered._

_"Okay." The younger twin acknowledged._

_"Alright how did you two end up here to begin with?" Magno asked._

_"Honestly no idea. It happened during our last mission for an important client. Some kind of bright light showed up from nowhere when we entered a certain area known as the Bermuda Triangle." Sol answered._

_"Bermuda Triangle?" BC asked._

_"It is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, that looks like a triangle, where it's rumored that a number of aircraft and ships were said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances." Sol explained, "According to many who did research on it or looked into it, it was just rumors, inaccurate reports or spurious at best, so no one really paid attention to it. But now I'm inclined to say that the Bermuda Triangle is something to not take lightly anymore."_

_"So you think that this Bermuda Triangle brought you two here?"_

_"I can't say that it's plausible. It's just a hypothesis."_

_Magno nodded and decided to move on to the next question._

_"I would like to know more about those advanced fighters you fly. They are much too advanced to be from Mejere but use weapons similar to fighter aircrafts from the past with the exception of that laser beam from that red craft Nevan flies. What can you tell me about them?"_

_"Tried to see what secrets you could learn about our jets and take them for yourself?" Nevan asked in a hostile tone._

_That remark caught Magno and BC off guard. Magno narrowed her eyes but said nothing while BC just stayed silent because there was no way she could deny that._

_"That is something we can't share with you." Sol said, "And to answer why, it's because our last client gave us those planes and told us to guard those secrets with our lives which we intend to do and since we're the only ones who can operate them it'll be a bad idea for you to try anything dumb. I can tell you that the technology used to make them is definitely advanced from our dimension. Other than that I won't say anymore."_

_The captain and her first officer didn't seem satisfied with that answer but they eventually accepted it since it's something that the pilots were trusted with._

_"Okay last question then Sol, what's that last part of the deal you mentioned I'd have to know?" Magno asked._

_"Nevan and I both knew that we'd eventually become a part of your crew and so this is what it is, as much as we still don't trust you we're in an unknown dimension and if we're going to work with your crew then we'd only answer to you and BC since you two are the clear superior officers on this ship. And any orders you give must be of your own mind and not influenced by anyone in your crew. Apart from that you'll have the services of Antares Squadron until we make it back to Tarak and Mejere." Sol answered._

_"What will you two do after we arrive Mejere and Tarak?" BC asked._

_"Honestly we have no idea. It's clear that I can't go to Tarak and Mejere would sooner kill my brother than let him near them. So we'll have this journey to decide what we'll do when that happens." Nevan said._

_"So do we have a deal?" Sol asked._

_Magno stared at him for a moment before nodding._

_"Alright you two, we have a deal. So how much are you charging for your services since you're mercenaries?"_

_"We're not charging anything for this. From the way we see it, this is a bigger crisis than any other one we've dealt with in our career. Right brother? Nevan said._

_"Damn right!"_

(Flashback end)

Sol wakes up in a different room with Nevan sleeping on another bed across from his own. After negotiating with Magno, Sol asked for a different room for him and his sister to share which Magno had no problem with.

He quickly went into the bathroom and took a shower and freshened up before he came out and got dressed in an outfit consisting of a blue shirt, black jeans pants with a black belt and a pair of blue sneakers.

He briefly looked himself over in a mirror. 'Finally some civilian clothing. Nice of Magno to give them to us.'

Magno had shown Sol and Nevan a trunk that contained clothes from the Old Colonization period or more like what was worn on Earth if it still existed. The twin pilots were appreciative of them but still did not trust the old pirate captain and kept their guard up around her.

Sol picked up a toolbox and left the room. While walking down the corridor he spotted Duero coming out of the room and nodded to him as he walked past. When Sol was moving past the women's room he saw some of them come out in provocative clothing that caused a certain part of him begin to react but he suppressed it and continued his way, ignoring the looks and whispers from the women that had seen him but he noticed that some of them were having a similar reaction like he had when he saw some of them in their clothing.

_'For women that hate men, they still have those urges. Hypocrites!'_ Sol thought in annoyance. He made it to the hangar and went to his plane, The Fenrir, and began to do maintenance on it.

* * *

Nevan yawns as she opens her red eyes. Sitting up she looks to her left and sees that her twin brother is not in his bed so she assumes that he woke up earlier. After doing her morning routine of push ups, showering and getting dressed into a red T-shirt, dark blue jeans, orange jacket and red sandals, she leaves her room for the cafeteria. Along the way Nevan hears someone scream that prompts her to draw her .45 ACP and rush towards the men's section.

When she arrives she hears someone shout "GET OUT OF HERE!" and spots Dita being thrown out of the 'men's restroom' before the door closes and the electronic lock kicks in.

"Why can't I stay and watch Mr. Alien?"

"HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO GO WITH YOU WATCHING?!"

Nevan holsters her pistol as she looks on in confusion at what just happened.

Dita sighed in disappointment.

"I was only curious."

"Curious about what?"

Dita turned and smiled in relief as she saw Nevan walking towards her.

"Oh hello Nevan. I was trying to find out if the rumor about Mr. Alien was true." Dita said.

Nevan frowned in confusion, "Rumor? What sort of rumor if I may ask?"

"I heard a rumor from Belvedere and a fellow crew member about a tube stuck between Mr Alien's legs and check to see if he really had it."

It didn't take a genius to know what Dita was asking about and Nevan blushed slightly.

"Well Dita, you should be more respectful of people's privacy, you can't just barge in while someone is trying to use the bathroom. It's considered rude." she admonished gently.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause Mr. Alien trouble." Dita said in apologetically.

"It's fine Dita, so long as you understand." Nevan assured her.

"Okay!" Dita said as she smiled brightly.

_'So young, innocent and naive. I can't believe she's a pirate.'_ Nevan thought.

"Um...Nevan. Have you seen that tube between a man's legs before?" Dita asked with curiosity.

_'Okay! She's more of an air head! And too curious for her own good!'_ Nevan thought as her face turned a red in embarrassment.

"Huh? N-no, I haven't seen it but I think it's better you don't try to find out too much about it yet."

"Why?"

"It's...complicated for someone your age. When you're older you'll understand it better."

With that Nevan quickly walked past the redhead before she could be bombarded by anymore questions.

* * *

"Excuse me!" Parfet announced through a megaphone. "I'm sure we can all agree that the Ikazuchi is a lousy name so I'm compiling a list of possible names that will suit the ship a lot better!"

She then noticed Jura and Barnette coming toward her and put away the megaphone before continuing.

"And whoever comes up with the name that we decide on the lucky winner will receive a year's worth of food certificates that you can redeem at the Trapeza!" Parfet finished with a cheerful chuckle as she held out the coupons for the two women to see.

Jura was naturally surprised at the statement and showed it too.

"A year's worth?! Are serious Parfet?"

Barnette stared at one of the names listed on the Navi-bot's screen.

"What's this? The 'Nirvana'? That's real corny."

"The commander came up with that one." Parfet whispered to Barnette.

"How are you able to keep track of all these names anyway?" Barnette asked.

"I just install them into my new friend Pyoro here." The engineer replied.

Jura and Barnette blinked.

"Pyoro?" Jura questioned.

"It was Miss Parfet who gave me my new name. It's a really good name isn't it?" The robot now named Pyoro asked.

Jura just sighed as she made up her mind on what her contribution would be.

"Well then the Luxury Night is my contribution. You'll put that in for me won't you Pyoro?"

Jura was about to drag Barnette off before her friend quickly typed in the suggestion for the ship's name. After she was done both left the area.

"Luxury Night?" Pyoro mumbled as it reviewed the name Barnette typed in. Before he could call out to the two women Nevan showed up.

"Hello Parfet. What's going on here?"

"Oh hello Nevan. I'm just asking everyone for suggestions to name our new ship. Do you know any suggestions?"

"Mostly air carriers from where I come from. Though naming things ain't my specialty."

"I see...well, just tell me any name as long as it's a cool name."

Nevan thought it over and came up with a name that came into her mind.

"Valhalla." she suggested before she walked past them.

"What a strange name..." Pyoro said as Parfet punched in the information into the robot.

Sol leaves the hangar after being done with maintenance and returns to his room to clean up and change out of his messy clothing into cleaner ones before he leaves for the cafeteria. When he arrives he sees the majority of the crew now eating breakfast including Nevan, who's enjoying pancakes, bacon and eggs with orange juice.

Sol decides to pick the same thing she has but with coffee instead and goes to join Nevan on the table she's on.

"Nice of you to join, brother." Nevan said.

"Whatever. I had to do maintenance for the Fenrir and clean up after." Sol replied, "So what's new with the crew?"

"As usual most of the women are being stupid and arrogant." Nevan said, "The one known as Barnette has been on my case since we became part of Magno's crew. She's one of those die-hard believers of Mejere's idiotic propaganda and I've had to beat her ass into the ground because she's trying to convert me to their side and wants me to denounce you as my brother."

"Not surprising. You should hear the men's side of their story. I've never heard such garbage in my life and that they've fed it to them for so long just makes me sick."

"How far has our race fallen if they can become divided like this?"

* * *

In another section of the ship Buzam had just finished loading data cards into two message pods and programming the security protocols and coordinates. She was then suddenly contacted by the captain via comm-link with a holo-screen appearing behind her.

"BC?"

BC looked up at the captain's image to answer.

"Yes Captain, the message pod is ready for launch Captain."

"I see...but why is there another pod BC?" Magno asked as she'd noticed the second message pod.

"Well, this one is for Tarak, Captain. I thought it would be prudent to warn the men of this crisis as well, considering that they are also the enemy's target." BC explained.

Magno considered BC's explanation for a moment, and then agreed with her plan, as the men too were targeted.

"Very well, launch the pods."

"Yes Captain, launching the pods now."

BC launched the two message pods out of the ship as they sped towards their designated coordinates of the distant planets of Tarak and Mejere. However, just as the message pods seemed to be in the clear, they went up in a pair of explosions. The culprits were a quartet of cube fighters.

"All hands to battle stations!"

The alarms were going all out throughout the ship, as dread pilots scrambled to respond to the incoming threats. Sol and Nevan had quickly changed into their flight suits after eating breakfast and were on their way to the hangar with their helmets in hand. When the reached the hangar Antares Squadron, Meia and Jura spotted Dita standing in there staring outside.

"Dita what are you doing? Get to your dread!" Meia ordered out.

Dita turned and spoke to her and the others.

"It's just that Mr. Alien flew right out of here! WHOOOSH! He was so fast!" she explained excitedly as she spun like a ballerina to emphasize her point.

"What?! He's out there already?!" Jura exclaimed in surprise.

"That stupid idiot." Sol muttered as he and Nevan removed the earpieces from their helmets and placed it in their ears to listen to the battle outside.

Outside in space The Vanguard charged at the incoming enemy.

"You guys better get ready! Because Hibiki is HERE!" Hibiki yelled out in excitement as he engaged the the small group of enemies. With his mech's sword he easily cuts down two of the four enemies in quick succession. The last two fighters split up and came at the vanguard and launched themselves at it in a last ditch kamikaze attack resulting in a big explosion.

When the smoke cleared, the crew saw the vanguard floating cross armed and legged intact.

"Did all you women see that?" Hibiki called out arrogantly over the comm-link, much to the annoyance of the crew and disapproval of Magno.

"Let's face it you guys can't just get by without me, HAHAHA!" he continued undaunted by the looks he was receiving.

"Arrogant little brat." Nevan said as she removed the earpiece and placed it back in her helmet.

"He was showing off like an ass. What an asshole." Sol said as he did the same thing as Nevan and awaited the vanguard's return.

As soon as it landed in the hangar bay, Hibiki emerged out of the cockpit greeted by an angry Meia, a nervous Dita, unimpressed Antares pilots and the other dread pilots.

"You must be here to thank me for taking care of things out there, right?" Hibiki asked with a cocky grin.

"Don't be so conceited. You put yourself through a lot of danger by doing that. You are only to follow my direct orders!" Meia spoke with restrained anger.

_'Agreed.'_ Nevan thought while Sol looked on.

Hibiki jumped down from his mech to the ground.

"Ha, don't make me laugh! How can you expect to beat the enemy if you let a little danger bother you? But I guess you don't have to, now that you got me to protect you." he boasted as he flexes his bicep which only served to piss Meia off even more.

"Hmph, small dogs always bark the loudest." Meia scoffed.

Hibiki's mouth was open in shock before he came with his attempt at a comeback.

"That may be true but it's better than not being able to bark at all!"

"Except you're not the one who's barking, it's just your machine right?"

"This is going nowhere." Nevan sighed. Sol just nodded in agreement as he watched the little argument turn into a full-blown yelling match.

"Are you looking for trouble with me?" Hibiki growled.

"What's the matter can't handle the truth?" Meia challenged, slightly leaning forward toward him.

"Who died and made you king?! Who do you think you are?!"

"You're our prisoner!"

"Yeah but don't forget your prisoner saved your butts!"

"Nevan. Go talk to Magno about dealing with that brat while I defuse this situation." Sol said as he walked towards them and Nevan left the hangar for the bridge.

Right now according to Sol this verbal battle was a complete joke and waste of time.

"Oh would you two just shut the hell up!" Sol shouted.

The two and everyone else still in the hangar turned to him as he walked between them before turning to face Hibiki.

"You! Who the hell invited into this conversation anyway?!" Hibiki growled.

That got him a punch to the stomach from a very pissed off Sol, dropping Hibiki on all fours, close to passing out before looking up at Sol with defiance.

"You since you have no idea about rules of engagement." Sol said while trying to hold back his anger.

"I was just out there defending the ship!" Hibiki argued defiantly.

"Really? More like showing off to me. Rushing out there like that without a plan's an easy way to die brat!" Sol scoffed, "Does the word 'teamwork' make sense to that tiny brain of yours?"

"Hmph...I don't need teamwork when my partner and I are enough to defeat the enemy by ourselves." Hibiki replied with a cocky grin.

"Is that so? And what happens when you die? Huh?" Sol asked in a harsh tone, making Hibiki feel very small.

Sol continued, "Consider yourself lucky that was just a quartet of them that was most likely a recon team. If that been a full squadron you'd be dead in less than five seconds. Rushing head-on into battle without a plan? How stupid can you get?! That's as good as putting a sign over your head saying "Hey! Shoot me, I'm stupid!". You need people to watch your back in battle and a good strategy too."

"They were only four of them. No need for me to have need help from the women to defeat them!" Hibiki said stubbornly.

"So you still don't get it?" Sol asked still trying to hold in his anger at the arrogant teen's attitude. "It's that kind of arrogant attitude that can get the best pilots killed. And I've actually seen it happen."

"Why should I listen to you? What do you know about battle anyway?!" Hibiki said, making Sol's eyes narrow dangerously which Meia and Dita noticed, with the latter becoming more nervous.

"How many sorties have you been on? Three. As for me? I've been on more missions than your whole life so I know more about battle than you. As for those pilots that I mentioned? The ones with your attitude? I know about them dying, because I saw them get killed thanks to that attitude or I shot them down myself!" Sol said coldly, shocking everyone in the hangar and making them feel uneasy.

"D-Don't compare me to them! They aren't me!" Hibiki denied weakly.

Only to get rewarded with knee to the body, lifting him off his feet, an uppercut to his jaw, another punch to the body and a dual fisted smash back to the ground.

"MR. ALIEN!" Dita screamed in terror as she rushed to the side of the prone and barely conscious Hibiki.

"Why the hell should I compare you to them?! You're not even close to being half as good as any of them! In fact you're nothing but a third-rate punk who thinks it's all fun and games and acts like a bad-ass because he took out a few enemies, who were most likely recon units trying to probe our ship for weaknesses." Sol shouted angrily, "Wise up you little runt or you'll never gain anyone's respect or trust and you'll only stay a third-rate wannabe pilot! Plus if you pull off a stunt like that again I'll shoot you down myself and save the enemy the headache!"

Sol barely calmed himself down before he looked at Dita who was protectively around him.

"Dita, please get him to the medical bay before I decide to continue what I started."

Dita wasted no time in carefully helping Hibiki up and supporting him before leaving the hangar. When they left Sol turned to leave before Meia got his attention.

"What was that for?! Were you trying to kill him?!" Meia said in anger while Sol just looked at her blankly.

"If I wanted to kill him I'd put a bullet in his head and dump his carcass out the airlock." Sol answered coldly, "Besides I won't have stepped in if you had not decided to turn a simple reprimanding into an unnecessary yelling match because of your stupid hatred of men."

Meia did not like his criticism and tried to defend her actions.

"He went out there without any authorization!" Meia said with unrestrained anger.

"Your authorization or the Captain's? Because the captain authorized for all personnel to battle stations, in other words immediately engage the enemy like the brat did." Sol pointed out.

"So now you're defending him?" Meia accused.

"You saw what I did to him. What does that tell you?" Sol countered, "Someone had to knock him down a peg since he thinks he's the best pilot ever."

"Still I'm his superior officer and it's my job to punish him not yours!"

"Really? All I saw was you two having an unnecessary pissing match. Besides you seem to forget that we are all in this mess together so cooperation and teamwork's necessary here for our survival. No time for lone wolves here."

"We don't need either of your help! And you are not part of this crew! In case you have forgotten you're our prisoner too!"

_'This is going nowhere! I don't have time for her bitching!'_ Sol thought to himself as he glared at Meia.

"Sorry but I recall your Captain stating that myself and Nevan, along with Hibiki, Bart, and Duero were to be part of this crew, and me and Nevan are not from either of your planets so your rules do not apply to us." Sol mentioned.

"Don't give me that! You're just all talk and a show off like him! You are nothing without your machine!" Meia yelled.

"I could say the same about you. You seem to be better at barking like a bitch." Sol said with a blank look on his face.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Do you need hearing aid? I called you a bitch and in fact you're a hypocrite who's just as conceited, arrogant and stubborn as Hibiki is and have the same teamwork issues like him."

Meia's temper reached its boiling point as she glared at Sol's expressionless face, unaware that it was hiding his own anger. It was bad enough that men were now part of the crew but now this man, although a squadron leader like herself, infuriated her even more than Hibiki. He even went so far to criticize her and insult her too. Sol was just as pissed off. No scratch that, he was even more pissed off at Meia. Right now he had lost all respect for the Dread Squadron leader thanks to her attitude and her bigotry.

"One last thing. The enemy we're dealing with does not care about your planets' feud with each other and will kill us all indiscriminately. Whether you like it or not everyone has to work together to get out of this mess!" Sol finished. He then turned and walked out of the hangar.

* * *

In the bridge Nevan and Magno were talking about Hibiki and they had also seen Sol's handiwork and his argument with Meia.

"Did your brother have to do that?" Magno asked while touching her forehead to stave off the incoming headache.

"He's an arrogant one and my brother's not the most patient person in the world when it comes to people like him." Nevan replied, "And for the sake of the crew I suggest you do something about him before someone kills him...Most likely my brother, Meia or Barnette. Speaking of which, you'd better do something about Meia and Sol before things escalate and Barnette since she's been getting closer to being dead at my hands."

"As for the boy, I will assign him to the Reg crew since it's under different management and Gascogne would be able to teach him about teamwork properly." Magno suggested.

"That would be great Captain. Plus the fact that Gascogne's also there makes it more reassuring." Nevan agreed.

"As for Meia and Barnette, that'll be harder since both are stubborn and hardcore believers of Mejere's propaganda. That'll be something you two have to settle among yourselves. Sorry if I can't be more helpful." Magno said.

"No worries Captain. I knew that it would have to come to that. However don't think you're off the hook yet." Nevan finished before she left the bridge.

Magno sighed as she looked down to her console. "Well, what do you think of that?"

Suddenly Meia's appeared on a small screen and looking very satisfied.

"That's perfect and thank you very much Captain." she replied gratefully.

"We'll leave that young man in Gascogne's capable hands. Besides Nevan agreed with the idea too." Magno said.

"I see. That's good to know. Having a man with us acting on his own could damage the morale of others. Speaking of which I'd like to make another request Captain, it concerns the Antares Squadron."

"Sol and Nevan? What about them?" Magno asked curiously.

"I'd like them transferred into the Dread team since we can't have them operating on their own."

"What do you mean by that Meia? Do you have a problem with the twin pilots being part of the crew?"

"I don't have much of a problem with Nevan since she's a good pilot though she's not from Mejere. I feel that she's better off in the Dread team than in a two-man squadron. As for her brother Sol, he has no right to be a leader. He's arrogant, violent and hostile to everyone and he's so…infuriating! Not to mention that he's a mercenary with no loyalty to us making him a serious threat to the crew."

Magno did not expect that suggestion from Meia. While she could understand her problem with Hibiki, she couldn't see how she could agree with Meia's suggestion to just divide Antares Squadron especially since they've worked together for a long time. She knew that Sol and Nevan would sooner kill Meia than let her have her way.

"Sorry Meia. There's no way I can transfer Nevan and Sol to the Dread team not to mention break up Antares Squadron." Magno answered.

"Why Captain? You're in charge." Meia said in confusion.

"I did not create their squadron. Their squadron's been in existence before they ended up here. Besides I doubt that Nevan would take orders from you since she's used to taking orders from her brother, not to mention that they still don't trust us completely. I understand your concerns about them but we must not forget that they've helped us out already. Furthermore, their skills and their fighters are very valuable and considering our situation we cannot afford to aggravate them."

Meia wasn't happy with what she heard. She was hoping to stick it to Sol and try to put him in his place while keeping Nevan away from him and part of her team but Magno just turned down her request.

"But Captain-"

"My decision's final. Case closed, Meia."

Magno cut off the comm-link and sighed in frustration as she leaned back into her chair.

"Never changes, stubborn as a mule that one." she noted wryly.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about someone." Bart mumbled after hearing that.

"How long are you going to keep eavesdropping!?" Magno yelled to Bart.

Bart jumped up slightly and yelped in shocked surprise.

"Right, I'm going!" he replied hurriedly, sliding back into the helmsman portal before setting the ship's autopilot system.

"Sheesh, why do I get all the flak?" Bart muttered before leaping back out of the portal and saluting the captain.

"Switched to autopilot, I'm going on break!" he said sheepishly before sprinting out of the bridge.

* * *

"She did what?!"

Nevan had found Hibiki coming out of the Medical Bay after being patched up by Duero after the beating he got from Sol. He was about to go to the bridge to ask Magno for a favor for helping defend the ship until he ran into Nevan who told him about Magno's decision to transfer him to Reg Central.

"The Captain transferred you to Reg Central." Nevan repeated, "According to her it's under different management so you won't have to put up with the Dread squad leader Meia."

"Different management huh? That's good to know. At least the old hag knows about what I'm capable of." Hibiki said, which rewarded him with getting grabbed by his shirt by Nevan.

"That woman you're calling "old hag" is the captain of the ship and you'll do well to respect her. Next time you disrespect her like that I'll finish what my brother started! Understand?" Nevan said in a very menacing voice which got Hibiki sweating in panic and nodding frantically.

"Y-Yeah I understand!" Hibiki acknowledged fearfully and Nevan let go his shirt.

"Good. Now let's be on our way there." Nevan said in a sickly sweet voice.

The two later arrived at Reg Central.

As the door slid open Hibiki entered eagerly with Nevan behind him.

"So this is the place! Reg Central, Ahhhhh!"

Hibiki shouted as he was shocked and frozen momentarily where he stood. Nevan however kept her cool and scanned the room they had entered. It was a large room, dominated by two tables running down its length. On the tables were a number of computer terminals and standing behind each terminal were women in weird frilly outfits. Then all the women turned towards them as one and bowed.

"WELCOME TO REG CENTRAL!" they chanted in unison with smiles on their faces.

'What is this place and what do they do here?!' Hibiki thought nervously.

_'I'm starting to like this place already.'_ Nevan thought with amusement.

* * *

Still pissed off by Hibiki's arrogance and Meia's bigotry, Sol walked into the firing range to take his mind off of those two people. He went to a corner table and began to disassemble his .45 ACP. Once he was done he stood back as he closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled to calm himself.

Barnette and Jura entered the firing range as Barnette wanted to pass time by shooting some targets. Both stopped when they heard the sound of knuckles cracking and turned to see Sol staring at the disassembled gun parts.

"What are you doing here, male?" Barnette asked in a hostile tone.

Sol ignored her as he pressed a button on his watch to start the stopwatch and began to put his weapon back together.

After locking the chamber into position and loading a magazine into his pistol, Sol stopped the timer on his watch.

"26 seconds." he muttered to himself, "Still behind Nevan but by 2 seconds."

"Hey! I asked you a question! What are you doing here, male?" Barnette shouted.

Ignoring her once more Sol stepped onto the platform and waited for it to rise above the floor. Angered by the man ignoring her Barnette walked towards him.

"Hey, are you deaf-" Barnette froze when she saw Sol holding his .45 ACP pistol at her.

"No, I heard you clearly Barnette. I just chose to ignore you since I don't have time for your bigotry. But if you want a new hole in your head, that can be arranged." Sol said coldly, sending a chill down the dread pilot's spine. He then turned set his attention on Jura.

"Hello Jura. How's your day been?"

Jura smiled at Sol's politeness.

"It's been okay so far, thanks for asking. But can you please not try to shoot Barnette?"

Sol regained his composure as he stopped aiming his gun at Barnette and turned his attention to the firing range.

"Sure I won't shoot her. Just keep her in check before I end up finishing what Nevan started."

Barnette angrily closed her eyes and she walked to the platform next to Sol's and waited for it to rise up as well. She drew her Beretta M9 and loaded a fresh clip into it which Sol saw from the corner of his eye before he focused back on his range.

"Beretta M9 huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about it?" Barnette answered without looking.

"I expected you to use a laser weapon like the others."

"Well I prefer to use guns like this instead. So what are you using?"

".45 ACP."

Sol pressed the button on the wall next to him to activate the range.

After the countdown reached zero, Sol swiftly aimed down the range and began shooting down target after target with pin point precision and speed. When his weapon went empty he quickly reloaded a new clip and resumed shooting his targets.

Not wanting to be outdone by a man, Barnette stepped her game up and thus began a competition between them.

After all targets were destroyed the score came up to display the tally between them. It was 24-21 in Sol's favor.

There was silence in the firing range with Barnette and Jura looking in amazement at how Sol had taken down all targets quickly and without missing. However Barnette was also seething within because she was outdone by a man.

"Who taught you to shoot like that?" Barnette asked Sol, refusing to believe what just happened.

"No one." Sol answered, as the platform lowered back to the floor, "It's just something I practiced over the years."

As he walked to the door Sol suddenly stopped and turned to look at Barnette.

"There was no point in making it a competition. If we were in a real battlefield that could have gotten you killed."

Sol then left the firing range before Barnette could say anything in reply.

* * *

Meanwhile at Reg Central, Hibiki found himself dressed in an outfit similar, complete with certain "assets", to the women. For the past hour he had tried to get a feel for what he was supposed to do here.

"Uh…W-Welcome! This is our e-easy to r-read menu…uh…we highly recommend the Kamikaze set! The regular menu consists of…" Hibiki stuttered nervously.

Finally he had enough as bit the tip of his tongue in embarrassment and lost it.

"There is no way I can do this stuff!" he shouted as he tossed the data pad he was holding sending it bouncing across the room.

"But you were doing it fine!" The three women who were helping him encouraged.

Hibiki then leaned aggressively toward the women causing them cringe back in fear.

"What the hell am I doing here?! What's a Kamikaze set supposed to be anyway?! I don't get this!" he yelled furiously at three women who clustered together in shock at the anger in his voice.

"Oh can you shut the hell up before I finish what Sol started!" Nevan yelled as she walked towards Hibiki, wearing the same uniform as the women while carrying some boxes. Hibiki was close to freaking out after hearing her threat of beating him within an inch of his life.

"Thanks for shutting him up Nevan. And by the way kid the Kamikaze set is a load of bombs and enough fuel for one way trips. It was developed with men in mind" A new voice said.

Nevan and Hibiki turned to see the newcomer as the three women shuffled away from view. She was tall and broader than most of the women he had seen. Unlike the others, she was dressed in dark trousers, with a short-sleeved tan shirt with flaring shoulder pads.

"You're welcome Gascogne." Nevan said.

"So you're the boss of this place. What kind of place is this, all you do is sit around and smile!" Hibiki demanded with a growl before getting smacked at the back of his head. "OW! What was that for?"

"Disrespecting a superior officer, dumb ass." Nevan bluntly answered while Gascogne smirked at her before looking back at Hibiki.

"We see our friends off with a smile in Reg. It's the most important job here." she said walking toward him.

"Important! What's so great about working here?! Geez, this is really pissing me off!" Hibiki ranted but suddenly stopped as the woman moved forward to stand in front of him.

"It is a very important job! Don't think for a second that the pilots are flying all on their own out there. The only reason they can fight in the first place is because of all the support they get from here. You see, they're the actors and we're the stage hands." Gascogne explained.

"Stagehands…?" Hibiki questioned.

"In other words those who work behind the scenes to make sure that things go according to plan." Nevan answered, "We all have a role to play in this ship whether it's combat, medical, navigation, engineering and so on."

"Exactly. Someone already seems to know how to do their job." Gascogne said.

"I'm more of the actress than the stagehand but I'm also a multi-role kind of person so either seems fine to me." Nevan said.

* * *

Parfet and her companion the Navi-bot Pyoro explored the other sections of the men's side of the ship. The two of them had come across one of the food storage compartments which fell on top of them with Parfet on the floor buried waist-deep and gazing at the massive flood of variously colored nutrition pills.

"AAAHHHH! What is all this stuff?!" Parfet shouted.

"This is food from Tarak." Pyoro explained to the young brunette while its head was buried.

"Really? This is food? Men eat this?!" Parfet asked with bewilderment as she had a hard time believing that anyone would actually eat these pills.

Pyoro was eventually able pull its head free of the pile before it continued to explain.

"One tablet has enough nutrition to ensure a full three hundred hours of labor."

"Oh!" Parfet exclaimed as she picked up and examined one of the pills, amazed that something so small could do so much.

Just then Dita peered in and saw the two.

"Oh hi Parfet, have you seen Mr. Alien around lately?" she asked.

"I heard he was assigned to Reg Central." Parfet replied after turning to her.

"To Reg…?" Dita mumbled. Then she noticed the multi-colored tablet. "Hey what's that?"

"Pyoro was just telling me that this is alien food." Parfet explained.

"Really?!" Dita beamed excitedly. She then knelt and took one of the pills curiously before popping it into her mouth.

"Wait! You're eating it?!" Parfet yelled in surprise while watching Dita chew.

She didn't have long to wait as Dita immediately grimaced and spat out the tablet and stuck her tongue out as her tongue's taste buds were subjected to the pill's foul flavor.

"Blah!"

"Well…?"

"Ewww! I can't believe they eat this stuff! Poor Mr. Alien!"

Dita then perked up and smiled as she thought up an idea on how to get closer to Mr. Alien.

"I know!" she shouted enthusiastically before springing to her feet and started to head for her destination.

"Hey, wait a minute! What about a name for the ship?" Parfet called frantically.

Dita turned to her with a smile and gave her suggestion.

"How about Roswell?"

* * *

"This is the women's world? Don't you think it looks kind of gaudy." Hibiki blurted out loud while Nevan silently observed the a small white sphere that Gascogne used to show the planet Mejere.

"Sure does. It's a real clean and beautiful place though. Don't get me wrong, I hate how everything is so superficial." Gascogne said with disgust.

"How so? It looks like a nice place to live in." Nevan asked.

"Majere is a world where everyone is friendly to each other and everyone is having fun." The Reg leader elaborated, "But that's only on the surface. Most of the women love showing themselves off."

The image magnified to some of the towers showing them to be covered in lights.

"They do stupid stuff like competing with their neighbors at who has a better 'garden'. They're usually wasting energy on stuff like that. Because of that it got so bad that one our residential units had to be shutdown to conserve power."

The lights on the towers died suddenly, leaving them looking cold and dead.

"Our captain was one of those that lost her home and nowhere else to go. That's when she started up this pirate gig with all of us. And gathered up others like us, who had either lost their homes or didn't fit into Majere's society and made a new home along with us."

"Such idiocy I'd say. And waste of energy too." Nevan said with disgust.

The image now changed to a recording of a Mejerian frigate that looked just like the old pirate ship used to be before it merged with the Ikazuchi and became the ship it is now. It showed the ship attaching itself to the side of a Tarakan ship with its crew boarding it.

"For us pirates, there's no difference between men and women. That's why we spared all of your lives. If we had been the real Majerian army you would have all been dead before you even spit out the word please." Gascogne finished. At the same time the recording finished with the Mejerian ship detaching and leaving the Tarakan ship to blow up from multiple explosions which were undoubtedly the result of explosives.

Hibiki gulped at that while Nevan looked on with an unreadable face.

Gascogne grabbed the sphere and shut off the images.

"The way I figure it, you're just like us since you also have nowhere to go. On this ship there's one simple rule; you wanna eat, you work. You can complain all you want, but just make sure finish your work first."

"I like that rule. Real easy to remember." Nevan said with a smile.

"So what's my job supposed to be anyway?" Hibiki asked as he moved forward only to be halted by a mop pointed in his face.

"Just keep a smile on your face." Gascogne said with an amused expression.

"Fine whatever." Hibiki muttered as he grasped onto the mop with a grimace and went to work as indicated.

"Well I'll be getting back to work once I'm done with these things I'll be taking a break if you don't mind." Nevan said as she picked up another crate and carried it to another compartment.

* * *

Sol was in the garden, admiring the scenery and plants, which made him feel nostalgic. It's been a long time since he saw a good garden. And it also brought back some painful memories that Sol had to suppress so that he wasn't overwhelmed by them.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Parfet who looked eager to see him and Pyoro floating next to her.

"Hey Sol! I've been looking all over for you." Parfet called out to the pilot.

"Well I've been here for a while." Sol answered, "What do you need me for?"

"Is it true that you did maintenance on your plane by yourself?" Parfet asked.

"Yes I did. It's not much of a big deal." Sol answered bluntly.

Parfet was surprised by Sol's blunt statement which she disagreed with.

"It is a big deal! It's the engineers' job to do that! No need for the pilots to stress themselves out."

"Maybe but there are times when they're no engineers around so a pilot has to be able to take care of his/her plane."

"That's if there are no engineers available. Here in this ship, the engineers are available."

"Are they willing to do their job and keep Antares Squadron's fighters in top condition or will they let their bigotry get in the way?"

"I'm the chief engineer here and I'll make sure they do their work. You're a part of our crew and so your fighters are our responsibility like the dreads."

"I'll hold you to that Parfet. You and the engineers can take care of maintenance though I'll do my own check on the plane when I want and so would Nevan. Just don't try to study it. I know that the Captain has been eager to know about our advanced fighters' capabilities and me and Nevan are still obligated to our last client to keep their secrets with us."

"Okay...That's acceptable."

"Good to know. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be going to Reg Central."

"Hold on! Before you go how about a suggestion for a new name for this ship?"

"I'm crappy at naming things so I don't think that'll be a good idea."

"Well give it a try."

Sol thought for a few seconds before he gave his suggestion.

"Nirvana!"

"Wow! That's the same name the commander came up with." Parfet said in surprise.

"Well then add my vote to that then!" Sol said as he left the garden.

When he arrived at Reg Central he got a surprise in the form of women in weird frilly outfits bowing and greeting him.

"WELCOME TO REG CENTRAL!"

"Okay...I'm looking for Gascogne Rheingau." Sol said with an eyebrow raised.

"That would be me." Gascogne said as she showed up, "And thanks for getting my name right. What can I do for you Sol?"

"You're welcome...Anyways, I was wondering if you have LSWMs for my fighter?" Sol said.

"LSWMs?" Gascogne repeated.

"Sorry. I meant 'Long Range Shock Wave Missiles'. It's a scaled down version of the Shock Wave Ballistic Missile."

"Your fighter actually carries that kind of ordinance?!"

"Yes it does. I was surprised when I heard that too."

"Right...Well speaking of ordinance I'd say that we surprisingly have it."

Sol's eyes went wide like dinner plates in complete surprise.

"Really?! I have to admit I thought you'd say that you didn't have such missiles." Sol said.

Gascogne grinned at him.

"Well we did get a stock of them from a raid from way back. A Tarak ship we raided had them though we had no idea of what they were back then. It was Nevan that spotted it when she was arranging the other ordinances."

Sol shrugged. "So my sister was here huh? Not surprising since she likes being organized."

"Well I can tell you that she's a hard worker and someone I'd definitely would like to keep working here at Reg Central." Gascogne stated as she found Nevan to be a very good person to have around.

"She can work here all she wants. It'll be a nice way to help out on the ship when we don't have to fight." Sol replied.

"So do you want Reg Central to have those LSWMs in reserve for when you'll need it?" Gascogne asked.

"Sure, that'll be great. Unless there's a dread that can use that." Sol answered.

Gascogne giggled at that.

"Sadly, none of the dreads can carry those missiles unless they want to have really low speed. So do you want it as a Shock Wave Set?"

"Shock Wave Set?"

"Yeah. Weapon set that has most of the standard munitions for your fighter and the LSWMs. Just for you only."

"Is that so? Sure no problem. Just keep it in reserve for now. I'll let you know in advance when I'll need it."

"Right. We'll have your Shock Wave Set done and ready for when you need it."

"Thanks Gascogne."

* * *

"Enemy ship detected! Distance three thousand G.R. Approaching at very high speed!" Amarone reported.

"Someone's in a hurry today. How many?" Magno muttered.

"There's just one on the scanner." Ezra replied.

"Distance is now twenty-five hundred, it's almost here!" Amarone warned.

Magno looked down at a communications panel. "Well young man, it's show time."

A few minutes later Bart arrived running through the door and headed straight toward the navigation platform.

"Why did this ship have to be so freaking big!" he whined as he ran.

"Show us what you can do." Magno called out.

"Don't worry I'll show you my specialty, running away!" Bart answered back over his shoulder before he sank into the control pool.

Inside Bart let out a chuckle. "I'll take us to the end of the universe if I have to!"

* * *

The pirate ship suddenly increased its speed to leave the enemy unit in the dust, which caused it to promptly set off in pursuit. Despite the pirate ship going full speed, the enemy ship seemed to easily overtake them, and placed itself directly in their path forcing Bart to stop. Bart then tried to move the ship laterally from side to side, hoping to find a clear way to slip past. But the enemy ship moved effortlessly to block them.

"The unidentified enemy ship is maintaining a precious distance no matter where we move!"

"Bart! Try to stay on course! Launch the dreads! Prepare for combat!"

In the Dread Bays pilots were boarding their fighters while technicians were already preparing them for launch.

Inside her dread Dita was humming to herself as she fondly patted the wrapped lunch box that she had made for Mr. Alien which was sitting in her lap.

Suddenly her dread's internal comm-link sounded signal her of an incoming transmission.

"You're late! Where were you?!" Meia demanded, getting the redhead's attention.

"Hmm? Is something wrong Meia?" Dita asked innocently.

"This isn't a game Dita! Being late could mean the difference between life and death!" her superior admonished harshly.

"I'm sorry Meia!" Dita apologized weakly.

"We'll try a formation attack, you got it? Focus only on the battle." Meia ordered.

"Err…Roger!" Dita responded with a salute trying to look professional and failing.

* * *

In the register, Hibiki came out of the door to the back room, his register clothes discarded.

"Alright! It's time to go...ACK!"

His exit was abruptly caught short as a hand grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Stage hands aren't supposed to go out there with the actors." Gascogne deadpanned with an exasperated look on her face.

"What did you say?!" Hibiki growled as he struggled to get out of her grasp.

Meanwhile the register was full of activity as dread pilots and the Antares pilots placed their orders and register staff rushed to see them filled.

"Welcome to Reg Central! How can I help you?" One of the Reg staff girls asked with a smile.

"Could I have the A-set?" Barnette asked.

"The A-set? Certainly! Would you also like to add a few complimentary homing missiles to that order?" the girl recommended with a pose and a beaming smile.

Well, I really don't want to make the ship too heavy but sure why not? Add it on to the list would you?" Barnette answered with a carefree wave.

"Thank you very much!" the girl called.

"That's that us stage hands do. You got it pal?" Gascogne enlightened. "Here."

Gasco dropped Hibiki in a chair and then with a flick of a switch activated a set of restraints to hold him in place.

"What is this? What are you doing?!" Hibiki protested loudly.

"Your new here so today why don't you just take a load off and watch it works around here? Understood?"

Nevan walked up to one of the Reg staff girls when her turn came up.

"Hello Nevan. Joining the others?"

"Yes I am. I'll be sticking to my TLS set."

"The TLS set it is. Thank you very much."

Nevan sweat dropped at the girl's smile and pose as she walked off before bumping into her brother and flight lead.

"Hello brother. Down here to make an order?" she asked.

Sol replied, "Yes. You can say that though I have no idea what they got apart from my Shock Wave that Gascogne set up for me. And I don't want to use that yet."

"Well there's the XMAA and XLAA sets I set up. Take your pick." Nevan recommended.

"Then I'll go with XMAA set since The Fenrir can't use the XLAAs." Sol said as he walked past Nevan and approached the counter.

The Reg staff girl behind it was nervous at the sight of him which ticked him off.

"Can I make my order or do I have to slap you silly to get you to wake up?" Sol deadpanned.

The girl barely managed to regain her composure and put on a weak smile.

"Um sorry...W-Welcome to Reg Central. H-How can I help y-you?" she stuttered.

"I'd like the XMAA set please." Sol politely requested, "And please relax. I won't attack you."

"XMAA set? S-Sure. A-Anything else?"

"That'll be all." Sol answered as he walked away. _'Looks like it'll take them a while to get used to me.'_

* * *

Sol reached the hangar as the canopy for the FALKEN closed. Getting into the Fenrir and closing the canopy, he waited for the dreads to fly out of the hangar before him and Valkyrie taxied into position. When they were in position Fenrir contacted the bridge.

"Fenrir here. Antares Squadron is ready for launch."

"Roger Fenrir. You're both cleared to launch."

The engines of both fighters came to life as they flew out of the hangar and into space to join the others.

The atmosphere was tense as the Dread Squadron, Antares Squadron and the pirate ship were in a standoff with the lone enemy ship which was an irregular, purplish sphere, dotted with smaller spherical protrusions.

"Why isn't it doing anything?" Hibiki questioned while still restrained to a seat as he watched the standoff.

Out in space the dreads assumed their formations in front of the fused ship and ready to close in on the enemy.

"Dread team formation set up complete and ready to go!" Meia reported.

Meanwhile Antares Squadron stayed not too far from the dreads as they observed the situation.

"What's with the standoff? And what the hell is that thing?" Valkyrie asked.

"Simple. That's most likely the enemies new weapon against the dreads." Fenrir answered as he narrowed his eyes at the enemy. "Why it hasn't attacked yet, I don't know. Though I get a feeling we'll find out soon."

Suddenly the answer came as long purple tendrils emerged from the rounded protrusions that dotted the spherical enemy. They quivered then hardened into jagged razor-sharp spikes that surrounded the sphere which shocked some of the female pilots with its appearance, especially a certain pilot who freaked out.

"A-A sea urchin…?!" Jura gasped with wide eyes, Are we seriously going to fight that thing?!"

"Just calm down Jura!" Meia told her while she was unfazed by the enemy's appearance. "Team leaders check and confirm your formations. All teams commence attack!"

"Roger!" A chorus of affirmative sounded as the dreads began their attack.

The dreads launched missile barrages at the target. However, the spines started rotating at high speed, taking the brunt of the attacks, rendering the missiles harmless as they exploded away from the ship itself. The dreads barely evaded and weaved past the spines after that failed attack.

"No good! The spines blocked our shots. What do we do now?" Jura asked as she maneuvered her fighter around.

"This guy's a really bad alien!" Dita shouted.

Seeing the attack run fail, Valkyrie spoke up to her flight lead.

"That was an epic fail. So how do you want to handle this Fenrir?"

"Since the missiles were useless let's try a strafing run." Fenrir ordered, "Stay on my six and let's see if we can do better."

"Roger that. Valkyrie engaging!"

"Fenrir engaging!"

Antares Squadron accelerated toward the urchin and began their own attack run, both fighters strafing the enemy and catching it by surprise. The bullets hit their mark but there was no visible damage to the surface.

The urchin began spinning rapidly and rushed head on at the two advanced fighters, forcing the pilots to quickly evade the counterattack.

"Bullets don't seem to do any damage." Valkyrie reported, "What next?"

The urchin suddenly surged towards the fused ship, rapidly spinning as it flew towards its target.

"Valkyrie! Feed it a dose of laser fire!" Fenrir ordered.

"Okay. One serving of TLS coming right up!"

The bottom compartment opened up and a laser beam fired from it at the urchin forcing it to break off its attack run as some of the spines were blasted off it before more spines replaced them.

"I managed to do land a hit but those spines seem to regenerate when they get destroyed and the damn thing moves too fast to get a clear shot anyways. What do we do now Fenrir?"

"For now defend the ship from that thing. Watch its movements and counter the best way possible."

"Defense?! Damn it! Antares 2, Roger!"

The dreads continued with their assault, sending wave after wave of missiles at the attacking sphere. But the urchin just flew straight into their attacks and came out with not so much as a scratch while the dreads were forced to pull away from the sphere and circle back to avoid a collision. When it tried another attack at the pirate ship, Antares intercepted with missile fire and laser to drive it away.

"That thing's way too fast!" Barnette called out.

In her cockpit Meia grimaced. She knew that Barnette was right, this thing was too fast and they weren't even able to touch it with their missiles.

"Meia! Let's get Mr. Alien out here!" Dita called in.

"No! He's a man and one of our enemies!" Meia barked out.

"But he's a good alien!" Dita persisted.

"I've told you before not to rely on the strength of others! This is our battle! We'll win it on our own!" Meia yelled out as she launched another barrage of missiles at the urchin. But once again these were deflected by the spikes inflicting no damage.

"Keep that up and you'll all end up dead in no time." Fenrir called in.

"YOU!" Meia gasped, "Stay out of this!"

"Hard to do when you people are doing the same attack and failing to score a hit!" Fenrir countered, "At least we inflicted damage on this thing unlike you. You're not the only ones out here in this battle!"

"I do not need your help, we can win this battle without you or your squadron!" Meia yelled.

"Get over your self you bloody hypocrite!" Fenrir yelled back in full-blown anger, "You're the one who was ranting about teamwork and now you don't want to work with me because I am a man?! How idiotic and bigoted can you get?! You know what? Go waste ammo and get yourself killed! At least I won't have to put up with your bull crap!"

Fenrir cut off the transmission leaving the other dread pilots shocked at his words.

"Did you really mean that Fenrir?" Valkyrie asked.

"As much as I want that hypocrite to get impaled on that thing's spines I don't because she's my comrade but her bigotry is really pissing me off." Fenrir replied in a calmer tone. "We need a way to hit this thing hard and fast or this battle of attrition will get worse."

"Ms. Gasco I've got an order to go!" Barnette cried over the radio when she saw that she was out of missiles.

* * *

In Reg Central, Hibiki continued to struggle against his restraints.

"Come on, this is so unfair! Somebody get me out of this thing!" he whined.

Then to his great surprise, the restraints suddenly retracted. He looked up to see Gascogne hold out her hand to him.

"Let's go, you're going to see what we stage hands do up close and personal." she said with a small smile much to Hibiki's confusion.

Later a vessel came out of the hull of the fused ship into the battle. The supply ship piloted by Gascogne, resembled a deep gray metallic beetle and was protected by high-density armor plate and had several grappling arms located on the undersides.

The supply ship made its way through the battlefield to a group of functional dreads waiting to be resupplied. When the ship reached them, it slowed to a halt as the massive robotic arms from below the delivery ship took hold of the waiting dreads and brought them in close so that the ships could be rearmed and refueled.

Inside the ship Gascogne sat with Hibiki while he watched the procedures.

"All right girls, let's get all this done in one go! 50 seconds tops!"

While the resupply was going on the urchin decided to take advantage of the defenseless ship and flew at it. Unfortunately a barrage of missiles hit its unprotected side, causing it to go off course.

The enemy ship stayed at a distance, scanning for whoever or whatever attacked it but couldn't get a thing. Then another barrage hit its weak side again and forced it to randomly shoot its spines from the direction it perceived it was shot from but hit nothing.

"You can't dodge or hit what you can't see!" Came a familiar voice as another barrage scored home on the urchin.

This time the urchin decided to go full defense and keep all the spines up and stay in place.

Suddenly the Fenrir appeared out of thin air surprising everyone except Valkyrie who knew what her flight lead did.

"Looks like you landed some good hits and it's wising up." she said.

"My hand was forced. I didn't want to make use of that ability of the Fenrir but I had to do something." Fenrir sighed, "Now that it's waiting there let it have a diet of laser."

"Roger that!"

The FALKEN unleashed the TLS on the urchin, destroying the spines and its damaging its armor. However the urchin got the hint and flew away before anymore damage could be done.

Just as it moved, Gascogne finished resupplying the dreads.

"Delivery complete. Give them hell, girls!" Gascogne said.

"I'm so full!" Dita cheered as she and the others were now back into the fight with the alien ship.

It was then that Hibiki noticed that there was still a shipment left.

"Hey you still a shipment left in there!" Hibiki said.

"Oh is that so? Well we brought it out here so we might as well use it." Gascogne replied casually.

Hibiki was confused at first but he quickly put two and two together and smiled in triumph as he could now finally fight with the enemy.

"ALRIGHT! HERE I COME PARTNER!" he shouted and quickly ran out without another word.

The vanguard launched out of the supply ship's cargo bay and wasted no time joining the fight.

The dread pilots and Antares also noticed the new arrival.

"It's Mr. Alien!" Dita cheered as she spotted the vanguard. Meanwhile Meia was not happy to see the vanguard.

"So he decided to show up after all?" Valkyrie said as the vanguard charged at the urchin.

The vanguard attacked with its sword which the urchin easily dodged before it countered with a volley of spines, with one disarming the mech of its weapon and another impaling it on the shoulder.

"You're going to pay for that!" Hibiki bellowed in outrage and tried to resume its charge. But the vanguard refused to respond, remaining frozen in space. "Huh?! What's going on?! Move dammit!"

"You stupid idiot!" Fenrir muttered, then he contacted Dita. "Hey Dita! Are you there?"

"What are you doing?!" Meia yelled out.

"Putting an end to this fight!" Fenrir replied, "Dita?"

"I'm here Mr Other Alien!" Dita responded.

Fenrir sighed in frustration at the nickname and just shrugged it off.

"Whatever...I want you to combine with Hibiki's Vanguard. We'll need the Vandread's firepower to even the odds of this fight."

"All right!"

"Dita! Don't listen to him!" Meia ordered.

However the redhead ignored that order as she was too excited to combine with Hibiki once again much to the vanguard pilot's chargrin but he decided that it was better than doing nothing while the enemy was about.

The urchin however knew what was coming and it did not want to wait for that Vandread combination to come and obliterate it. So it fired a barrage of spines at the dread, with intention of stopping it from combining with the vanguard. Unfortunately it did not count on Meia's dread suddenly coming to intercept the attack.

"Dita, watch out!" Meia warned.

Her dread took the hits, sending itself hurdling to the side as she knocked Dita's dread to safety. Coincidentally Meia's dread was flying towards the vanguard.

"There's no way…" Meia shouted out.

"… I am going to let that thing beat me!" Hibiki declared as he was finally able to dislodge the spike and move his mecha.

The dread and vanguard collided and were both engulfed in bright light, signifying a new dread combination. The result was a new Vandread that looked like a large and slender predatory bird with long taloned arms and an avian head.

"What?!" Dita cried in shock as she looked at the new Vandread.

"Did you see that?" Barnette called out.

"It's so cool!" Jura declared as she stared starry-eyed at the new Vandread.

"Well, that's a new one." Fenrir said in surprise.

"More sci-fi bull shit!" Valkyrie yelled.

On the pirate vessel, the bridge crew, Magno and BC, along with everyone else onboard were also in awe.

"That guy sure has a lot of tricks up his sleeve." Bart said as he gazed at the new mech.

* * *

Inside the cockpit of the new Vandread, both pilots recovered from the blast of light and tried to get themselves into more comfortable positions. However they both found themselves in the most compromising of positions, with Hibiki's back on Meia's breasts and she was in a reclining position while Hibiki was in a hunched over position. This got each other's attention.

"What are doing?!" Hibiki yelled out.

"What do you think you're doing in here?! I never asked for your help so get the heck out!" Meia snapped as she attempted to push him away.

"If I could get out don't you think I would've done that!" Hibiki protested back as he leaned backward to push back.

Their verbal sparring match was cut short when the Vandread shuddered from the impact as the alien ship outside capitalized on their lack of attention and attacked them.

"As much as I'd like to argue with you, we don't have the time to do that." Hibiki spoke up.

Meia gritted her teeth but slowly nodded in agreement with him as they both worked together to control the new Vandread.

The inactive Vandread came to life and began to chase down the urchin with speed and acceleration that made the other dreads and the advanced fighter jets look slow in comparison.

"The speed and acceleration are incredible!" Barnette shouted as she was shocked at the speed that was being shown on her scanners.

"Meia is so lucky! I envy her!" Jura said as she stared at the Vandread wistfully.

The new Vandread was easily keeping up with the urchin and making it look foolish as it easily dodged the spines that the alien ship fired in desperation. Bad news; it ran out of spines and the Vandread had it in its sights.

"This is exactly…" Hibiki declared.

"…What I've been waiting for!" Meia finished.

The Vandread then dived right at the sphere while bathed in a bluish-white light of immense power. The Vandread surged forward, ramming straight through it and burst through to the other side leaving an immense shock wave behind it as Vandread came to a halt. The result was the unfortunate enemy ship exploding as it was destroyed and ending the battle.

"Great...how much more sci-fi BS do I have to deal with before I go insane?!" Valkyrie lamented.

"Suck it up soldier! A lot more's going to come our way." Fenrir reprimanded. "No matter we still got the results we wanted and ended this battle."

* * *

In the VanDread's cockpit, both pilots were very much exhausted.

"That's...one pretty big mess I don't want to be in again." Hibiki panted.

"I never thought we'd agree on anything…" Meia responded as she tried to catch her breath. She laid back breathing deeply for a minute before speaking again.

"Now do you understand? You can't win every battle with just your Vanguard alone out there." she said.

"Heh. The same goes for you and your dread don't you think?" Hibiki questioned.

Meia didn't answer the question as he had raised a good point.

"This is so unfair!" Dita pouted, "Mr. Alien was only supposed to combine with me!"

Meanwhile in her own dread, Jura gazed at the Vandread, lost in her own thoughts.

Everyone returned to the ship and the day continued as it did before the attack.

* * *

"You want me to decide the ship's new name?" Magno asked as she got into contact with Parfet through the comm-link via Pyoro.

Parfet nodded as the Navi-robot showed the names suggested by the crew to her captain through his monitor.

"The entire crew contributed names to this list and we want you to pick one Captain!"

As she scanned the names, Magno spotted one that caught her eye.

"Hmmm...The Nirvana...? Not a bad suggestion. Who came up with that one?"

"It was the commander's idea and Sol voted on it too!" Pyoro answered for her.

"Fine then. From now on, this ship will be called the Nirvana." Magno declared.

However Parfet was not thrilled at that.

"I should have known."

* * *

At the men's quarters, an exhausted Hibiki entered as Duero and Bart turned to see him arrive.

"Oh! So you're back." Bart observed.

Hibiki just ignored him and headed toward a nearby cot.

"Hey, what's with that Vanguard of yours anyway?" Bart asked but still didn't receive any answer.

"Are you alright?" Duero asked with concern which was also ignored by Hibiki as he sat down on the bed.

Bart then moved toward Hibiki holding a box of Bart's red and white "special tablets".

"Come on now cheer up!" Bart encouraged as he got down on one knee in front of Hibiki and held out a pill to him.

"I'm not in the mood for that." Hibiki replied tiredly.

"Really?" asked the surprised Bart.

Just then the door opened to reveal Dita and Pyoro standing in the doorway. She was carrying a blue bundle tied in knot.

"Oh Mr. Alien!" she called as she rushed toward Hibiki.

At the same time Bart was still trying to convince Hibiki to eat a pill.

"Come on now! Ah!" he pressed on but Hibiki was still unresponsive.

Dita quickly sat and snatched the pill out of Bart's hand and flicked away.

"Hey why did you that for?!" Bart cried in dismay at seeing the pill being sent to the floor.

"Here you go." Dita set the wrapped bundle on Hibiki's lap, unwrapped it, and took out a bento.

Then Pyoro cheerfully skipped to Hibiki and jumped up to pull his mouth wide open much to Hibiki's distress.

"Open your mouth! Aaahh!" Pyoro said as it widened Hibiki's jaw then Dita slipped a red vegetable on a toothpick into his mouth and taking the toothpick out.

"Now chew! Chew!" Pyoro ordered as it forcibly moved the boy's jaw from side to side.

"Swallow!" Pyoro instructed which Hibiki did.

After a moment Hibiki's expression was that of pure ecstasy at the taste of the food he just ate.

"What is this stuff?!" he asked eagerly as looked into the bento.

"Do you like it?" Dita asked.

Hibiki then promptly took the bento from her and began to chow down while holding it to his face.

Dita smiled, held up both her hands together, and moved closer to Hibiki.

"Mr. Alien, will you promise to combine with me and only me? Okay? Pleeeaasse!" she pleaded with puppy eyes.

Hibiki just looked at her with annoyance.

"Would ya stop calling Mr. Alien already?!" he irritably snapped after which he went straight back to munching then licking meal clean.

Meanwhile Sol and Nevan had finished having a big meal since the battle ended before they went back to their room. Nevan proceeded to relax on the bed while Sol fell asleep almost immediately.

I've finished downloading the enemy's allied recognition codes into pods." Parfet reported.

"So those spheres will help mask the communication pods." Magno noted.

"Very well then, launching the pods now." BC said as she pressed the button to launch the pods.

The new message pods were then sent on their way to Tarak and Mejere, but some of the crew still had their own doubts.

"I hope those pods get there alright. But still, even if they do receive our messages, there isn't any guarantee that they'll even be listened to." Parfait remarked as she gazed at the moving pods.

"Wish for it Parfet. As hard as you can." BC said as she too gazed out. "If you do then I'm sure that one day, that wish will reach them."

* * *

**Chapter 4 End.**

**Sorry for taking too long to update this. I was even surprised that it took me this long. **

**Read & Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**AN: Just something to point out for anyone with questions about this fic:**

**Yes it's the same story except with a few changes. Like the siblings being twins, lack of the Assault Horizon Characters, different planes and no prologue scene. The original version of this story was rushed so and I hit a dead-end too so I decided to make the story a bit more detailed and fleshed out. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 5: Facing Fear Head-On**

* * *

The newly named ship, the Nirvana, is currently holding its position over a planet that looks like it's devoid of life or anything significant to it. It looked more like a desert wasteland.

Inside the ship's conference room, BC and Magno were looking over the images of the newly located desert planet and having a discussion about the planet and their plan of action.

"This planet…" BC began.

"...appears to be dead. I know BC." Magno finished for her. "Something definitely happened here alright."

"You're right, but what could cause a planet to be like this? With your permission Captain, I'd like us to find out what happened down there, there might be some sort of valuable information that we can get once we're on the surface."

Magno sighed as she looked at the planet and then looked at her second in command.

"I'm not too worried about you going BC, it's the others I'm more worried about especially Meia, Barnette, and the Robben twins."

BC nodded in agreement. Over the past few weeks after the last battle, Sol and Nevan Robben, mercenary pilots of the Antares Squadron had slowly been getting to trust Magno and the rest of the crew. She knew that she was still on thin ice with the twin pilots and was not eager to make enemies of them especially after the crew had seen their skills in combat. However the hostilities between Sol and Meia, and Nevan and Barnette had been getting worse.

Meia had been on Sol's case because of how he tried to take command of her squad during the last battle against the sea urchin. Sol had told her that he was only doing what was necessary to end that battle since Meia was proving to be incompetent. Things escalated quickly as she tried to beat him down but ended up losing decisively to the Antares squadron leader, who let her know that he wasn't one to take shit from anyone and his lack of respect for her due to her bigotry. Meia tried to pull rank on him but that failed since Sol told her that he only takes orders from Magno and BC and no one else.

Ever since then both pilots had avoided each other. More like Sol had kept his distance from Meia so that he would resist the urge to tear the woman apart.

As for Nevan and Barnette, it was much worse as the Mejerian had constantly been trying to instill her home's propaganda on the Dutch and she's gotten nothing but an angry Nevan lashing out at her every time, telling her to shove her BS propaganda up her ass and leave her alone.

Then it got much worse when Barnette decided to threaten to kill Sol and she nearly paid for it with her life when Nevan snapped and went ballistic as she beat the dread pilot within an inch of her life and would have killed her if not for the timely intervention by other crew members. It took the combined effort of Jura, Sol, Duero and Gascogne to hold off and restrain a blood thirsty Nevan off from finishing the bloodied and barely conscious Barnette. Both had to be detained in separate parts of the ship to discipline them and to keep Nevan from finishing Barnette off while she got treated for his injuries by Duero.

Like Sol, Nevan did her best to stay as far as possible from Barnette so that she resist finishing what she started. Barnette however hadn't given up on her mission to get Nevan to see things her way but chose to put it on hold after Jura begged her to give it up.

"If this keeps up Captain somebody's going to get hurt and it would most likely be Barnette or Meia depending on which of the twins snap first." BC said.

"I know but that's not the only thing I'm worried about." Magno stated.

"What is it, Captain?" BC asked.

"Those two are hiding something. Deep inside them emotionally. Painful scars from the past." Magno said, "While they can still operate efficiently in battle, I can still see the emotional scars they do their best to hide."

"Something really terrible happened to them in their lives and they have yet to move on from it?"

"Exactly. Let's hope they move on from it before it costs them."

* * *

In the hangar bay, Hibiki was performing maintenance on his Vanguard and repairing the damage from the last battle. While it didn't take long for him to do that due to being a good mechanic back on Tarak, he was still very exhausted. As soon as he was done, Hibiki closed the panel and he sighed.

"These women are such slave drivers, aren't they partner?"

Unknown to him, a certain redhead had sneaked up and was about to ambush him. Dita had managed to climb up the ladder to surprise her Mr. Alien while Hibiki was too busy complaining to his partner. When she got into position she pressed her finger to her lips and shot a heart. When the floating heart connected Hibiki fell from the platform and down to the floor.

"Maybe I'm just not eating right." he mumbled as he stared at the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Dita asked as she stood above him.

Hibiki didn't answer her at first because of his exhaustion and his recovering from the fall, plus he was unaware of the fact that he was very much looking up Dita's skirt which made him suddenly feel embarrassed. He managed to get up to a sitting position while Dita looked at him in concern. Suddenly they both heard a loud sound...and it was coming from Hibiki's stomach.

"I could make you something to eat." Dita suggested to him.

Hibiki didn't answer her as he he closed his eyes and sighed before getting to his feet and sluggishly walked out of the hangar.

* * *

"You really need to stop sending crew members to the medical bay every time they offend you, Nevan." Duero warned as Nevan was sitting down on one of the beds while going through a medical check-up.

"Maybe if they get their heads out of their asses, open their eyes and see things for themselves instead of preaching their ridiculous beliefs to me then maybe you'll have less guests in here." Nevan replied as the doctor checked her blood pressure.

"We all have to work together to get back home, and I rather doubt that fighting the women who are with us will help the situation." Duero observed as he worked.

"You think I don't know that doctor?! I'm more than willing to work with them but when they keep spewing that bullshit they call a propaganda to me, I find it hard to not resist the urge to pound them into the ground." Nevan said much more heatedly.

"Calm down Nevan. Your blood pressure is getting unnecessarily high." Duero warned as he saw her blood pressure rise rapidly after her reply.

Nevan sighed and breathed deeply and exhaled to calm herself.

"It's because of their attitude that I'm finding it hard to be calm at all." Nevan said calmly, "Especially with Barnette who's been getting on my last nerves. I don't know why you all stopped me from shutting her up for good. She threatened to kill my twin brother if I didn't see things her bigoted way. Are you expecting me to just cave in to that and become a bigot like her? Well I'm not."

"While I don't blame you for how you reacted, and I believe that Barnette went too far there, it still doesn't mean that you had to nearly beat her to death, that could have made things worse for you and your brother."

"Honestly I'm close to not giving a damn anymore about the crew since many have still yet to earn me and my brother's trust or respect. The only ones who have so far are you, Jura, Dita, Ezra, BC and Magno, though she's still on thin ice with us."

"You still hold a grudge because of what she did earlier?"

Nevan breathed deeply for Duero to check her respiration rate.

"It runs in the family...we're very vindictive and we don't forgive those who wrong us quickly." she replied as she put zipped up her jacket after Duero removed the stethoscope from her chest.

"That's a really unhealthy way to live. And it's an easy way to gain too many enemies too."

"Well we know how to keep our list of enemies small which is why we've been able to survive and are still standing. So how am I doing?"

"You have a clean bill of health. Though I'd ask you to keep the fighting to a minimum to keep your blood pressure low and not send anymore crew members to the med bay."

"Can't make any promises there, doctor, but I'll do my best, see you later." Nevan said as she left the med bay just as Hibiki entered and walked to the nearest bed.

"Hey doc, I'm not feeling too well." Hibiki said tiredly.

A few minutes later, Hibiki was now bare of his clothes and wearing only his loin-cloth underwear as Duero began to check his vital signs on a pulse monitor, that showed that he was still fine but just exhausted. After more sensors on the teen, he moved his hand down to Hibiki's leg, checking to make sure his muscles were firm and contracting properly before moving his hand closer to the pilot's nether regions. Noticing Duero's hands moving towards that part of him, Hibiki panicked and backed away from the doctor in surprise.

"Hey?! What are you doing?!" he asked.

"I'm examining you." Duero replied somewhat surprised at Hibiki's reaction.

"Keep those hands to yourself!" Hibiki replied in a wary tone.

"You've been acting really tense lately Hibiki, not to mention that you seem to be very exhausted."

"Well fighting side by side with those women is no picnic doc, not to mention protecting them."

Duero was surprised by Hibiki's statement but smirked at it at the same time.

"So you're protecting the women, kind of an odd twist for a man of Tarak to take, don't you think?"

"Well you see the thing is I'm stronger than they are...well except that woman Nevan. She's much stronger than most of the women here and more scarier, plus she has her twin brother to protect her..."

Duero smirked a bit and noted the slight elevation in Hibiki's pulse rate, along with his twiddling of his fingers, and decided to change topics.

"Maybe we should not talk about the women for the time being, you need to rest and eat more."

"Good idea Doc." Hibiki replied in agreement.

It was then that Paiway showed up and looked at the pulse monitor that the Tarak medic was using to check on his fellow man's current medical condition.

"What's this thing? A video game?" she asked.

"You've never seen a pulse monitor before?" Duero asked somewhat surprised by Paiway's question considering that the young nurse was the chief medical officer on the ship before he was assigned to the Medical Bay and he thought she'd be knowledgeable on most if not all medical equipment and devices used in medical treatment, even the most basic of those devices like the pulse monitor.

Paiway went from curious to annoyed at the doctor's question.

"What's it to you if I haven't seen one? Besides you don't need something like this. All health problems can be fixed in the Jacuzzi."

Both Hibiki and Duero looked at one another in confusion at what Paiway was talking about since they'd never heard of it.

"Jacuzzi?"

"What the heck is that?"

* * *

Meanwhile in the spa, many of the women were relaxing. Some were having their nails done while others were bathing in the jacuzzi.

"Ah, space battles always damages my hair." Jura said as she lounged on a salon chair with a towel wrapped around her head, keeping her long blonde hair from flowing out, and another large towel wrapped around her body while several attendants were massaging her legs or giving her a manicure and a pedicure.

"Don't worry Jura. We're here to revive your beauty." One of the attendants assured the blonde Dread pilot.

Jura sighed as she felt her body tension melt away from the massage she was getting, she moved her head to the side and saw Meia and Nevan soaking in the Jacuzzi.

"Meia, are you trying to lose more weight?" Jura inquired.

"Excess fat gets in the way of combat." Meia simply replied.

"Agreed. We can't afford to have that holding us back." Nevan added as she lowered herself into the warm water.

"That may be, but you won't have any breast left if you keep that up." Jura pointed out, "Same goes for you Nevan."

"Heh. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself Jura." Meia replied.

"You already know my answer Jura." Nevan simply stated.

* * *

In the cafeteria Sol was eating his lunch which consisted of fried rice with chicken, diced vegetable and egg rolls. Many of the women were also having their lunch, however, they kept their distance from his table while observing him and whispering to themselves. He paid them no mind as he enjoyed his lunch but still kept his senses sharp for anything else in the area.

_'Seriously if these women have something to say about me they should say it to my face.'_ he thought as he saw some of the women from the corner of his eye.

He then spotted Dita staring at the nearby food conveyor belt that ran from the kitchens to the cafeteria and back, allowing the women to easily get their dishes by merely picking them up from the belt and taking them to the tables. It seemed that she was looking for a particular meal.

Barnette then arrived as she was about to get a meal of her own which happened to be the one that caught Dita's eye. It was a dish that had sliced fillet mignon, with baked potatoes and some basil on it with a tag of 789 calories.

"I think I'll take this one!" Dita said cheerfully as she grabbed the dish and held it in her hands.

Barnette was surprised and not happy to find her intended meal in the hands of the bubbly redhead and she wasted no time making her displeasure known.

"Dita! That's loaded with calories, why would you want that?"

"That's all right Barnette, he told me he wasn't eating right." Dita said happily as she headed off with the meal, leaving a confused Barnette behind.

'Why do I already know who that meal is for? Oh well, not my problem.' Sol thought as he went back to his lunch.

Back in the bridge, the operators are busy scanning the surface of the desert planet.

"Heat signature detected" Belvedere announced.

"There's a very large sandstorm in the area so I can't be entirely sure Captain, but the scanners have picked up what looks like an artificial structure." Ezra reported.

"I think that it is best that we do investigate the surface Captain, we might find not just information but supplies as well."

"Hmm…the kitchen is running a bit dry so no sense not stocking up on some fresh supplies. All right then, we'll do this like old-fashioned pirates."

"Thank you captain, alright, we are about to begin a surface operation, begin monitoring weather conditions and calculate the best location for a landing zone for our recon team to be deployed, along with the right time to send them down there."

* * *

Sol and Nevan were back in their room as Sol was resting and Nevan was drawing something when they heard the announcement. They were surprised by it as they knew about the Mejerian women's dislike of the Vanguards, considering the machines of men to be ugly and fashionable, and would not be caught dead piloting them but now their opinions did not matter as their superiors are telling them that they had to use them.

"We're going to use the Vanguards? This will be interesting." Nevan said while grinning.

"Maybe...I don't mind piloting those mechs although I'd rather be in my jet." Sol said.

"Hibiki's not gonna like this." Nevan remarked.

"I know and we should be getting his reaction right about...now."

And right on point they heard Hibiki shouting his head off.

"WHAT?! WOMEN ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO USE THE VANGUARDS?!"

"Called it." Sol remarked.

"When then, let's go join up with them." Nevan said.

* * *

In the Hanger Bay, the women and the Antares pilots were looking at the Vanguards that were found in the Nirvana. The women were not happy with the bland color scheme of gun-metal grey and metallic silver of the vanguards and so they began to paint them in order for them to look more presentable.

"Geez, I know that the Dreads were never meant for atmospheric operations on a planet, but that certainly doesn't mean I have to like using the Vanguards." Barnette complained.

"I really don't care much if it's a Dread or Vanguard, just as long as I can combine to make something beautiful." Jura said as she looked at her Vanguard which was painted in her favorite shade of crimson, just like her Dread.

Sol and Nevan found it ridiculous and stupid for the women to paint the Vanguards with pretty colors.

"These women care too much about aesthetic value." Nevan stated.

"More like they want to paint a big fat target on their backs." Sol added, "Let them do whatever they want. It's their prerogative if they want to advertise themselves to the enemy."

"Hey there! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me! During my long years in the academy, I have endured hundreds of training missions. You could then say…" Bart boasted but was interrupted as an anti-gravity lift floored him when it came on top of him.

"What are you doing standing under the lift? We're busy here so stay out of the way!" The technician who was on the lift scolded.

"Okay." Bart moaned as he rubbed his sore head.

Nevan giggled at that comical moment while Sol just shook his head at the pathetic cadet. Suddenly Hibiki ran into the Hanger Bay and rushed past them before he stopped, stunned somewhat at what the women had done to the Vanguards. His gaze however was directed to where his Vanguard was and he gasped as he spotted Dita on the ramp, brandishing a spray painter.

"HOLD IT! DON'T YOU DARE!" Hibiki cried as he immediately rushed to his vanguard.

"I'll make Mr. Alien's partner clean and pretty! I'm sure that Mr. Alien will really like it!" Dita said as she readied and aimed her instrument at the Vanguard.

Hibiki arrived just in time and stood between Dita and his Vanguard just as she fired off a stream of pink paint. As a result he was doused in the liquid, and now half covered with pink paint.

As soon as he got the paint out of his eyes, Hibiki directed a rather angry glare at the redhead.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING THIS TIME?!" he yelled.

"WOW! A PINK ALIEN! HOW CUTE!" Dita cried out as she ignored his the angry Tarakan, while staring at him with stars in her eyes.

"She's really crazy!" Hibiki moaned.

Nevan was rolling on the floor, laughing her head off while Sol kept a straight face though he was barely keeping himself from doing the same thing. Everyone but him looked at Nevan and sweat dropped as they thought she had some screws loose.

"Alright Nevan. Enough laughter. Let's go now before you embarrass yourself anymore than necessary." Sol said.

* * *

In the simulation room, the women and Antares squadron were having their Vanguard training runs to get used to the mechs and to also pick out their recon team for the mission they were about to go on.

Many of the women were weeded out by the training program until it only Sol, Nevan, Dita, Meia, Jura and Barnette. Duero, Hibiki, Pyoro were watching the simulation runs and they got a surprise as they saw that the Robben twins did quite well on the simulation runs, especially for pilots who fly fighters like the dread pilots.

"I'll have to admit it. Those twins are very talented pilots." Bart commented as he watched Sol and Nevan get out of their simulation pods and give each other high fives.

"Sol's a man like us so I'm not surprised that he can pilot a Vanguard that well." Hibiki said.

"Well Sol is not from Tarak and he flies a fighter like the women do yet he and his sister had no problem getting used to controlling the Vanguard." Duero pointed out to Hibiki.

"Right on point Duero." Sol said as he and Nevan entered the observation room.

"Adapt and overcome. Just like our instructors preached to us." Nevan added.

While the twins had success with the simulation run, someone else wasn't as lucky.

"I've had it! What is wrong with this thing?!" Jura said in frustration as she was thrashed about in the simulator. "Why can't this thing move with a lot more elegance?! I'm out of here!" With that she got out of her pod.

"Don't you need permission to do that?" Pyoro asked from the observation room.

"Oh be quiet you!" the blonde snapped before leaving the room.

A few minutes later Barnette and Dita finished their own simulation runs. Barnette did well enough for someone who disliked the Tarak machines while Dita clumsily managed to do well enough to pass, barely.

"See? I knew that the women can't pilot a Vanguard better than a man can." Hibiki mocked and he got rewarded with a slap to the back of his head from Nevan. "Hey! What was that for-"

"You were saying that a woman can't pilot a Vanguard? Surely you didn't include me?" Nevan interrupted in a sweet voice while twitching, which scared Hibiki a lot.

"N-No. Of c-course n-not. You c-can p-pilot a Vanguard j-just as well as a man." Hibiki said while sweating profusely, before running out of the observation room.

"I thought so." Nevan said.

She then noticed that Sol and Duero were focused on life support readings of Meia from the simulator's sensors. She too looked on to see what was having their attention. They noted that Meia seemed to be breathing harder than normal and was unfocused on what she was doing.

"I think we have a problem here." Nevan spoke up.

"Yeah. A potential liability is what we have here...I know those symptoms and that condition anywhere." Sol stated.

"So do I." Duero said in agreement, "But let's be certain first."

* * *

Meia pounded the side of the simulation pod in frustration as she saw that she had failed the simulated mission and was considered killed in action. She tried to calm herself down and keep her focus. It was then that the comm-link came online and she heard Duero's voice.

"Are there Medical overrides on Mejere?"

"What are you talking about?"

"On Tarak, doctors like myself are given full authority to ground pilots who find themselves in situations such as the one you happen to be in right now. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course not!"

"All right then, I suggest you switch you're video monitor settings to wide-screen, that should make the strain you're mind and body a lot less difficult and keep you focused."

"Keep you're opinions and advice to yourself! I don't need help from anyone, least of all you! I'll be just fine, thank you very much!"

"That girl's going to be a pain in the ass and a major liability." Nevan said after she heard the conversation between Meia and Duero.

Sol silently left the observation room. He could see a disaster waiting to happen and he knew that the crew couldn't afford to have any liabilities and Meia was definitely a liability.

* * *

"Hmmm…. How to use the ten-in-one knife shield… following the will of the pilot…ah, simultaneously with the electron pulse beam! I can do this!"

Bart said as he went back to reading the Vanguard instruction manual.

"Whatever Bart, just keep doing whatever it is you're doing." Hibiki said as he tried to leave the room. However his attempt to leave the room was stopped when his vision was blocked by a very ample amount of cleavage and was pressed between them instantly, stopping him in his tracks. Hibiki gazed up and found himself being looked at by a certain blonde which made him feel rather uncomfortable for some reason.

"Hello there." said a smiling Jura, "In the next battle, you will be combining with me! I hope you remember that."

After she and Barnette left the training center, Hibiki was left confused by her actions.

"What the heck was that all about?"

* * *

Back at the simulation room, Meia was out of the simulation pod, panting and lying on the consoles, covered in sweat and breathing quickly, with shallow intakes of air to calm herself down a lot more.

Duero and Pyoro looked at the young Dread squadron leader. Meia's state was an indication to the Tarak medic that she was indeed suffering from a very serious medical condition that had something to do with very tight spaces.

"Meia…I was looking over the medical readouts and the symptoms you have seem to be psychosomatic in nature." Duero said, "That tells me that there is something that happened to you that got you with this condition, do you have any clue as t what had caused this?"

"Hmph, your diagnosis couldn't be any more wrong." Meia snidely replied, "It's nothing more than fatigue Doctor."

"An adamant denial. Your case is far more serious that I thought it was." Duero stated.

"I am not denying anything, it's just fatigue, nothing more." Meia snapped.

She managed to get out of the cockpit with Duero and Pyoro moving out of her way to let her pass. However, she nearly collapsed and Duero managed to catch her to prevent her from injuring herself further, but instead of being grateful, the woman violently pushed Duero's aid aside and got to her feet and moved on, but not before turning to look at the physician and spoke in an angry tone.

"There's nothing I hate more than nosey people."

With that, she left the room leaving Duero and Pyoro behind.

As Meia walked down the corridor, she turned to the next corridor and found herself facing the last person she wanted to see: Sol Robben, who had his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall.

"I suggest that you don't go on this mission." Sol said in an emotionless tone.

"Why?!" Meia asked.

"It's your condition Meia. It's going to make you a liability on this mission."

"You're just as thick headed as that doctor! It's just fatigue!"

"Nice try Meia, but I KNOW claustrophobia when I see it. If you go down there in the Vanguard, you'll become a liability to the team and the mission, you're better off staying here on the ship."

"I am an officer on this ship! I lead all the missions the crew takes! What makes you think you can order me around?!"

"I'm not ordering you Meia, I'm just giving you advice as a fellow pilot and squadron leader. You clearly know that we can't afford to have any liabilities and your condition will only make you become one during this mission. Do the right thing Meia, not just for yourself , but for the others as well."

With that, Sol left Meia behind to think about his words.

_'Hopefully common sense prevails and she stays behind.'_

* * *

"Hey old lady! You there?"

Buzam and Magno turned to see an irate Hibiki on the holoscreen and Magno knew he was looking for her.

"There's an old lady right here little one, what do you want little one?" The elderly captain asked.

"Tell your women to stop messing up the Vanguards!" Hibiki complained, "It's really starting to piss me off! Anyway..." He then heard another voice and spotted a certain person coming at him and panicked. "Oh crap she's here!" Hibiki was forced to cut off communications to the bridge as he ran from whoever was coming at him, leaving a smirking Magno and a confused BC.

"It's really ironic, it sure has gotten lively around here since we captured those men" Magno chuckled.

"Y-Yeah." Buzam said, while still confused at what just happened.

Suddenly another screen came up after and this one showed Sol with a grim look on his face which got the captain and the first officer's attentions.

"Captain. We have a problem."

The elderly captain looked at him with concern. "Really? What is it?"

"It's about Meia. I'm sure you know this already, but she has claustrophobia. I recommend you exclude her from the upcoming mission." Sol stated, "I saw how badly she did in the simulations and if she goes down there she'd only become a liability to the recon team and the mission. I advised her to not go on the mission but I have a feeling it won't be enough unless you do something about it."

Magno sighed as she closed her eyes to think.

"I understand. I was aware of her condition, but didn't realize it was that bad. If you really believe it's for the best I'll see to it she's excluded from the mission."

Sol's expression changed to a much relieved one. "Thank you Captain. Hopefully that'll increase our chances of success on this mission."

Magno nodded, "Alright. Oh, by the way, Buzam and I heard that you and Nevan did well in the simulations. So I'll presume you'll both be part of the recon team?"

"You presumed correctly. We'll be part of the recon team." Sol replied, before the screen vanished.

* * *

Apparently Dita had chased Hibiki all the way to the garden to give him another boxed lunch to eat, which the raven-haired teen happily accepted and began to eat at a fast pace. Unknown to the two of them, someone else was watching the proceedings. Paiway watched Dita and Hibiki and then took several pictures and smiled secretively at what she managed to gather.

"Heheheh…I got you…Pai Check!"

* * *

Paiway was now inside another chamber in the women's bathroom, talking to Jura who was in a stall taking a shower.

" …The thing I noticed is, he was completely under Dita's control. And that was all because of one little boxed lunch."

Jura smiled as she heard that fact from Paiway.

"Hmmm, I see. That is something I can use to my advantage."

* * *

In the kitchen, Barnette was cooking her special meal, fillet mignon for Jura and she was not in a good mood after she heard why Jura had requested her to cook the meal in the first place.

"That's why I'm doing all this cooking?!"

"It's so I can combine." Jura explained, You do love me when, I'm beautiful, don't you Barnette?"

Barnette sighed in irritation at Jura's one track mind, knowing how futile it is to change her mind. She gazed around and spotted a bottle of hot sauce which made her smile evilly as an idea came in her head. Without Jura noticing, she poured a large amount of the hot sauce and added a few spices to the mix as well to the food she was preparing.

"All right, I'm done."

"That's why I love you Barnette. Let's go find him. I can't wait to see the looks on his face!"

_'Neither can I.'_ Barnette thought evilly.

* * *

Later Bart came into the kitchen and saw the leftover bits of food and was intrigued by what the women eat. Curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed one of the leftover bits from a pan and ate it, unaware of the hot sauce and spices that Barnette had put into the mix. He soon found out the hard way as he got up with a flaming tongue and puffy red lips.

'Women eat stuff like that?! And Hibiki's been eating those things like there's no tomorrow! That guy's really tough!' he thought as he downed a glass of water, trying to cool down his badly burned tongue and lips. He was beginning to feel some measure of relief as the water cooled his tongue. However, the door to the kitchen opened and in walked Dita.

"Mr. Alien, where are you?"

Bart quickly turned and spotted the redhead.

"Oh…it's you…" he said.

"Oh, hello Mr. Pilot, are you all right? You're face seems kind of weird." Dita asked in concern.

Realizing that his lips were still puffy, Bart put the glass he had down and covered his lips with his hands.

"Oh…it's nothing really!"

It was then that Nevan entered the kitchen and spotted Dita and Bart, especially noticing his puffy lips.

"Hello Dita, Bart. What's going on?" she asked them.

"Oh, hello Nevan. I was just talking to Mr. Pilot here." Dita replied. She then noted that the ice cream she was carrying for herself and Hibiki was already starting to melt.

"Uh oh, that's not good, you want some ice cream Mr. Pilot?" she offered to Bart. The blonde man reacted by screaming after recalling what happened earlier and he turned down her offer.

"No thanks! Maybe some other time! See you!"

With that, Bart left the kitchen in a hurry, making Dita very confused about what had just happened before her while Nevan who had seen his puffy lips had an idea of what happened and why he reacted that way.

"How sad. He doesn't know what he's missing." Nevan deadpanned.

"You want some Nevan?" Dita offered the Dutch woman.

"Sure. Thanks." Nevan replied as she accepted the ice cream and began to lick it. It was then that she spotted Ezra walking into the kitchen, with some sour dough bread in her hands and she was now munching on one right now.

"Men certainly do strange things, I saw him in here getting some food from the pots." Ezra said.

"Ezra, why are you eating all that sour dough bread?"

Ezra blushed a bit as she took another bite from the one she had on hand already, and gave a sheepish smile.

"I just had this craving for something sour today."

Nevan smiled at that as she knew that Ezra's cravings were due to her pregnancy which brought back some images to her mind.

_'I hope that you have a healthy baby Ezra.'_

* * *

"The planet's surface is stabilized Commander, we have good conditions to send in the ground teams!" Amarone reported after she scanned the surface and got confirmation that the weather conditions were good enough for them to send down the recon team.

"Alright. Order the team it's time to move out!" Magno said.

"Yes Captain." BC said.

In the garden, Hibiki had just given in to Jura's cajoling and was about to eat a piece of the fillet mignon the blonde woman and her friend brought for him. Jura was looking eagerly, as she saw her plan to have Hibiki wrapped around her finger about to come to fruition. Barnette, however, was eager see the young man scream in pain as soon as he ate the meat coated in hot sauce and spices, and watch him suffer to her enjoyment.

However, the alarms went off and Hibiki turned, realizing that the mission was now underway and he dropped the meal back in the plate.

"Damn it! This isn't the time for eating, I'll see you guys at the Vanguards!"

He took off to the hangar while Jura and Barnette looked on in surprise.

"Don't forget that you promised to combine with me!" Jura called out.

Out in space, six Vanguards that made up the recon team descended to the planet below. Hibiki's Vanguard used a special rocket umbrella for the descent while the other Vanguards piloted by Jura, Barnette, Dita, Fenrir and Valkyrie came in a special drop ship that looked like an old bobsled used on Earth, designed to allow groups of Vanguards to drop in simultaneously into the battlefield. They deployed their heat shields to protect themselves as they went through the atmosphere.

After successfully passing through the planet's atmosphere, the Vanguards' heat shields turn into umbrellas to slow their rate of descent. The first to land was Fenrir, followed by Barnette and Valkyrie who did well on their landings. Jura landed on a dune but slipped and Dita and Hibiki crashed onto the surface.

"It's a good thing you convinced Meia to not go on this mission. Her condition would only make things complicated." Valkyrie said to her squad leader.

"Telling Magno too makes me feel much more at ease. Hopefully it stays that way." Fenrir replied. Unfortunately he did not realize how wrong he was going to be.

* * *

Back on the Nirvana, Meia ran to the Vanguard hanger and growled in frustration at being left behind.

"Darn it! I'm too late!"

Pyoro hovered over to her and spoke, hoping to calm the Dread leader.

"You shouldn't push yourself Meia. Won't they be fine without you on this mission?"

"This shouldn't have happened! I'm responsible for their safety including Sol and Nevan!"

"Unfortunately, drop ship we used is for only one way. There aren't any other ones on the Nirvana now."

"What?!"

* * *

Back on the surface of the desert planet, the six Vanguards were looking around. Fenrir and Valkyrie were together covering each other while the rest of them were moving however they wanted.

"Just look at this place, it's completely deserted." Jura said in boredom.

"True. There's no need for Meia to be down here with us right now." Barnette agreed.

However Fenrir and Valkyrie had a completely different opinion. The situation was just too quiet and suspicious.

"It's too quiet here." Fenrir observed, "Perfect for an ambush."

"Got it. Thanks Captain Obvious." Valkyrie deadpanned in agreement.

"This isn't the time for joking around Valkyrie." Fenrir reprimanded. Then he hears someone shout and looks to his left to see Hibiki's Vanguard slip, fall on its back and slide down the dune. He sighed at Hibiki's slip up while Valkyrie laughs.

"Hey! Not funny!" Hibiki complained.

"That's enough Valkyrie. Dita, go help Hibiki up." Fenrir said, "You alright kid?"

"It's Hibiki, not kid!" Hibiki snapped, "And I'm fine. Just embarrassed now, this is my first time using my Vanguard on land and now look at me, flat on my back and looking stupid."

Suddenly Jura's Vanguard landed on top of Hibiki's own and in a rather suggestive way, causing Antares Squadron to stare in confusion at what the blonde Dread pilot planned on doing with Hibiki.

"Well now! This looks like a good a place as any for us to combine don't you think? So let's get on with it." Jura said in a very seductive tone.

_'Is this woman crazy?!'_ The mercenary pilots thought in disbelief. It seemed that Hibiki agreed with them but was more vocal about it.

"Are you out of your mind?! You want to do it here?!" Hibiki shouted.

"Stop that right now!"

The Vanguards looked and saw Dita's Vanguard nearby.

"The only one Mr. Alien's going to do it with is ME!"

"Now wait just a darn minute Dita! Who do you think you're talking to here?!" Julia retaliated.

"W….Well you can't do it!"

Jura and Dita began to glare at one another, neither of them willing to back down.

"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF!" Hibiki shouted as his Vanguard took off from the ground to get away from the two arguing women. However the moment he took off laser beams shoots from out of nowhere and hits his machine, making it crash to the ground. Then more beams shoot out and form a net dome trapping the recon team in it.

"MR. ALIEN!" Dita shouted as she and the others looked on after the laser beams got their attention.

Unfortunately Hibiki's welfare was the least of their problems as the sand suddenly seemed to come life and rushed at them at high speeds.

"What the heck's happening over here?!" Jura shouted out.

"What in the world?!" Valkyrie shouted out as she too saw the shocking phenomenon in front of her. Fenrir however narrowed his eyes at the scene.

* * *

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Duero became very concerned. The pulse monitors on his console for each Vanguard pilot were now showing elevated heart rates and increasing respiration though it seemed that Fenrir was a bit calmer than the others. Still it was clear that the recon team was in trouble.

"This is not good. Their pulse rates are increasing rapidly and they are now showing signs of fear and disorientation. Something dangerous is happening down there." Duero reported.

Buzam wasted no time in opening a frequency to the recon team below.

"Recon team, what's going on down there?"

Valkyrie was the first to show up on the monitor.

"What do you think's going on?! There's pandemonium going on down here that's what!"

Fenrir then showed up next on the monitor.

"Her impulsive comments aside, it seemed that Hibiki triggered some sort of trap. It looked like the enemy baited us to come down here and we fell for it hook, line and sinker."

The rest of the recon team showed up on the monitor as Jura, Barnette and Dita were in shock and panicking at the situation they were in.

"What the heck is going on?!"

"We're trapped!"

"Thanks madam for clarifying the obvious!"

"Oh, would you shut up?!"

"Ahhh! Look out!"

"Calm down everyone! What sort of trap is it?" Buzam said, hoping to keep the situation from getting even further out of hand.

"To answer your question BC, the sand...it's attacking us." Fenrir reported to BC.

Buzam stopped and looked on in confusion and disbelief after hearing Fenrir's report.

"The...sand...is attacking?!"

Valkyrie not liking BC's expression, made her annoyance known once more.

"Duh! Duh! Duh! Duh! Didn't you hear him? THE SAND IS ATTACKING US! Or are you freaking deaf?!"

"Valkyrie. Shut up!" Fenrir shouted, getting sick of his sister's outbursts.

* * *

Back on the ground, the sand on the planet began to cover up the Vanguards at an abnormal pace, except for Fenrir and Valkyrie who had quickly used their mechs' thrusters to hover above the surface.

"What the heck is up with this sand?!" Hibiki shouted.

"There's no way this is normal sand!" Jura said.

"It's almost like it's actually alive!" Barnette cried out.

Amidst the ongoing chaos, Meia was coming in for a landing in a Vanguard that was left behind. She had tried to contact the recon team but got no answers. Duero couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Meia's picture, along with her vital signs, appear on his monitor.

"She's pushing herself." he muttered.

Meanwhile Fenrir and Valkyrie managed to free Jura and Barnette from the sand before it completely covered them up, by using the air vents on their Vanguards while using the thrusters in reverse. Barnette freed Dita while Jura freed Hibiki the same way.

"Thanks a lot!" Hibiki said as he saw that he could move again.

"You're welcome." Jura replied with a smile, "By the way, why don't we combine? That's what I want in reward for freeing you."

Hibiki did not take that well as he glared at the blonde pilot and made his displeasure known to her.

"Are you still stuck on that combining business? In case you've forgotten, my Vanguard can only combine with your Dread. How do you expect me to fuse my Vanguard with your Vanguard anyway?"

That reply shocked Jura and she replied with a disappointed expression.

"Are you joking?! NO! Why didn't you tell me before?! I shouldn't have trained for this mission!"

* * *

Meia had tried her best to guide her Vanguard properly for landing, but landed hard on the surface of the desert planet, which was now in a sandstorm. Her cockpit was now deep red as the emergency lights kicked in, as several systems were now offline. Unfortunately she had landed several meters from where the others were and her claustrophobia was also kicking in as her breathing became rapid and she took in air in short gasps, her heart thundered in her chest and she was sweating profusely from her forehead.

"Meia! Meia! Do you hear me? Turn on your monitors! Look as far away as possible!" Duero called out to her.

"He should mind his own business!" Meia said in a raspy tone. She follows the doctor's advise and activates the monitors. After that Meia only has enough time to gasp as the sand attacks her before she screamed in terror.

* * *

Back on the Nirvana, Amarone gave a gasp of shock. She was monitoring the scene on the desert planet and was watching the markers that told her where the landing party was. Her cry of shock was due to the fact that one of the markers had disappeared, Meia's marker on her Vanguard.

"Meia's mech has disappeared from the sensors!"

BC acknowledged the report from Amarone and immediately got into contact with the recon team.

"Barnette! Jura! Dita! Hibiki! Fenrir! Valkyrie! Do you copy? Meia has disappeared! You have to find her!"

* * *

"What was that?! Care to repeat that, please?" Fenrir called out as soon as he got the message from BC.

"I repeat… Meia's Vanguard has landed some distance from where you and the others are. But she's no longer on our sensors! You've got to find her!"

"That just upped the ante!" Valkyrie said.

"Roger that BC!" Fenrir responded to BC before he cut off the comm-link to the Nirvana. "I swear her pride is going to be the death of her one of these days. Valkyrie, when this is all over, remind me to beat the living hell out of that woman!"

The recon team had just finished recovering from the massive sand attack before they found themselves contending with another threat: sand copies of their Vanguards. The situation would have gotten worse if not for Fenrir and Valkyrie deciding to take command and getting the team to work in sync to whittle down the enemy numbers. Barnette complained at first but after some "convincing" from Valkyrie they managed to successfully take down a good number of Sand Vanguards. Now the battle was much more favorable for the recon team and Fenrir saw it as a good time to find Meia and spoke to none other than Barnette.

"Barnette, you need to go and find Meia, we'll cover you."

"I said that I'm not..."

Valkyrie, not in the mood for any more of Barnette's crap decided to nip the problem at the bud.

"Barnette! For the love of God shut the hell up! The life of your comrade Meia is on the line here and you're still arguing here because of your bigotry?! If she dies here, I'LL KILL YOU! Now get your ass moving and find Meia!"

Barnette gulped a bit at Valkyrie's threat since she knew that the female fighter pilot will follow through with that threat. Fenrir decides to go a much calmer route.

"I know you hate me because I am a man, but Meia's life is on the line right now. Are you willing to let your bigotry be the reason she dies?"

Barnette gritted her teeth in frustration as she knew that arguing here would not be helping their situation or Meia's. So she reluctantly sucked it up and quickly made her way to Meia's location.

* * *

Back on the bridge, Buzam was trying to figure out just what they were going to do now with the situation the way it was. Fortunately she got good news of the recon team getting back into action and fighting back. However, she focused more on getting any information on what was attacking the ground team.

"Do we have any idea what is it that's commanding the attack on the ground team?"

"It appears to be some sort of central command and control system, apparently it's using nano-machines to control the sand and manipulate it for battle purposes." Belvedere reported.

Buzam then directed her attention back to the situation with the recon team, she was surprised and so was Magno as they discovered that the recon team was actually fighting well enough to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by the Sand Vanguards.

"Who's leading them down there? Is it Barnette?" Magno asked.

"No Captain...it's Fenrir who're leading them."

When they heard Fenrir was the one leading them, they were intrigued and even more surprised.

* * *

Eventually Barnette found the Dread leader's Vanguard fully covered with sand. Since her Vanguard's air vents had been damaged during the fight with the Sand Vanguards she had to resort to manually removing the sand off of Meia's Vanguard.

Suddenly the sand covered Vanguard took off and pushed aside Barnette's Vanguard, and slammed into the force field. Suddenly loud alarms filled the air, and several large structures began to rise from the ground.

"What's going on?" Magno demanded as they detected the sudden increase of power under the surface of the planet.

Belvedere and the others did a scan of the situation and gasped at the results, which weren't good in any way.

"The self destruct system for the defense system has been activated, there is at least 300 hundred seconds to detonation." she reported.

"That's not good!" Magno commented.

"Nirvana to recon team! You have to get out of there now!" BC called out through the comm-link.

"As much as we want to do just that, we're a little bit tied up down here!" Valkyrie answered back to the Nirvana as she smashed her Vanguard's halberd into another Sand Vanguard, slicing it in two.

"That's right, if we could leave this moment, we sure as hell would have done it already!" Hibiki said as he managed to slice down another Sand Vanguard.

He then spotted yet another one coming up the dune behind them.

"What?! Another one? How many are there?!"

Fenrir took out a throwing axe and was about to throw it when Barnette's Vanguard came beside the new unit and spoke to them all.

"Don't fire! That's Meia, the sand's taken control of her Vanguard and she can't get it to move at all!"

"What did you say?!"

* * *

Inside her Vanguard, Meia was in full state of catatonic shock and unaware of what was happening outside of her mech. She was brought back into reality as something smashed into her Vanguard and knock it on its back. She then heard Hibiki's voice through the comm-link.

"Hey! Are you taking a nap in there? Get that stuff off!"

"S-stop that! Forget about me…save yourselves…" Meia said weakly.

"Will you cut that out?!" Hibiki shot back, "As much as you may piss me off, I'd feel like crap if I let you die here."

Fenrir watched the young pilot try to scrape the sand off the other vanguard but it only kept coming back and much more thicker. He then spotted something resembling a massive storage tank near them. His Vanguard's sensors systems detected that the gas was liquid nitrogen. Just the thing they needed.

* * *

"One hundred and twenty seconds until detonation."

" Did you hear that?" Buzam cried out on the communicator.

* * *

"We're not deaf!" Valkyrie shouted back as she cleaved through four Sand Vanguards in one swing.

"Hibiki, attack those tanks to your left. The liquid nitrogen in them should be enough to deal with the sand." Fenrir called out to Hibiki.

"You got it!" Hibiki replied and then he threw an energy sword to the side of the storage tank. The tank exploded and the liquid nitrogen began leaking out, flooding the surrounding area in a cold mist. That was enough to freeze the circuitry of the force field emitters, disabling the barrier keeping them in.

"What the heck are you doing?! It's freezing in here!" Jura cried out before she suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute?"

She looked through her monitor and saw that the Sand Vanguard she was fighting with earlier had suddenly stiffened and became brittle. In a second it broke into shards of sand. The mist spread out rapidly, turning all the remaining Sand Vanguards into brittle statues that exploded immediately much to everyone's surprise. The sand over Meia's Vanguard cracked and broke away, allowing the young Dread Leader to see daylight once more.

Inside her own machine, Meia had a deep scowl on her. To think that she now owed a man her life...and to Hibiki no less.

She then tried to make her machine move, but it wasn't responding at all. She checked her readouts and saw that the sand had completely drained her mech of power. There was no chance of her to escape in time.

"The sand's drained my Vanguard of all power! I can't move."

Fenrir sighed and wasted no time as he gave the order to evacuate.

"Hibiki! Valkyrie! Help Meia up and get her out of here! Everyone else take off!"

Jura, Barnette and Dita took off in their Vanguards while Fenrir waited as Hibiki and Valkyrie both picked up Meia before they all took off after the others.

* * *

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Magno and the rest of her crew watched with apprehension as the timer hit zero and then the surface of the desert planet was engulfed in huge balls of fire and explosive force in orange-red color. Duero's medical monitors were showing nothing but static. There was a deep foreboding silence all over the ship, as the pirates feared for the worst. Then Duero's attention went back to the monitors as all seven readouts displaying the recon team came back online as several objects broke out of the massive conflagrations that tore up the planet's surface.

"All Vanguards are accounted for." Ezra said with relief.

The rest of the bridge personnel let off a collective sigh of relief as well. It was then that one of the bridge crew namely Belvedere announced that she had received some data from the investigation.

"Read it." BC ordered.

Belvedere became a bit tense, but nodded, with a little prodding from Buzam.

"Attention. This year's harvest includes red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, lymph products, etc. All blood products are in good condition. That's where the data ends."

The whole bridge personnel became shocked to the core by the information. Magno looked down with a barely controlled anger. BC turned to her commanding officer.

"They can't really mean…"

"I know BC, but the evidence is right here, and from what we have seen. Our enemies meant harvest completely. We're nothing but vegetables to them!" Magno then looked out to the stars and gave an outraged look.

"Whoever our new enemies, these aliens are. One thing is certain, they are quite formidable."

* * *

In the Nirvana's Hanger Bay, The Vanguards were being brought back in for repairs and maintenance. The battle below had shown to the pirates just how serious the Harvesters were about their mission of Harvest and that now was known to be harvesting all the organs of all living humans. The horror of this was not lost to the crew including the Antares pilots who were disgusted at the news. The pirate officers were already deep in council on the matter of the enemy's plans and the use of the Vanguards in future missions.

On several crates, were Dita, Nevan, Jura and Barnette, resting after their first taste of Vanguard combat. Meia was sitting on the floor and glaring at Hibiki.

_'Being saved is bad enough but being saved by a man is a disgrace. And of all men, it had to be HIM!'_

It was then that Meia noticed that Sol was nowhere in sight and wondered where he went. As she stood up to leave the man in question showed up in front of her and spartan kicked her, sending her flying a few feet before landing on her backside, surprising everyone in the hangar. Meia looked up to see a very pissed off Sol walking up to her.

"What was that for?!" Meia yelled, angry at Sol's sudden attack.

"Do you realize what you did down there?" Sol asked, barely holding his anger.

Meia looked at Sol in confusion, having no idea of what she did that made him so angry.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your damned pride! Thanks to you ignoring my advice, your actions nearly cost us our lives!"

"I'm the one in charge of operations on this ship and I came down to do what I am meant to do!"

"Oh really? Does that job involve going down there in a Vanguard when it's clear that you have claustrophobia which could jeopardize the mission?"

Before Meia could say anything she was cut off by a left hook to her face and dropped to the floor once more.

"In case you didn't notice Meia, that's what you exactly did! You ignored my advice and you put the mission and the recon team's lives in jeopardy with your stupid actions! How you became the leader of the Dread team still escapes me since you can make stupid decisions like this!"

Meia got up from the floor and glared at the dark-skinned man in defiance.

"I earned my position as the Dread leader here! You have no right to criticize me and question my actions!"

She runs at Sol and lashed out with a punch which he catches in one hand. Meia switches to her free fist but it too gets caught. Sol then front kicks her back as he releases her hands from his grasps.

"You know what? You're weak." Sol stated.

That hit a nerve as he sees Meia physically twitching, her anger rising.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"I said that you're weak, not physically but mentally. I don't know what happened in your past and honestly I don't give a damn. However you'd better get over it before it gets you killed in the future!"

"Shut up! What would you know about me anyway? You have no idea what I've been through!"

Sol just stared at her indifferently which further infuriated Meia as she lashed out with a kick which he caught very easily and then kicked her free leg from under her, putting her on her back again. He stared at her for a moment or so and then replied.

"You think you're the only person who's lost and suffered a lot Meia? You're so blind that you don't even know that they are people who are worse off than you and I've met my fair share of such people and so has my sister. Some chose to succumb to their suffering and die like the weaklings they were while others managed to move on, find something to live for and got stronger for it."

Sol then drew out his .45 ACP pistol and aimed it at Meia's forehead causing everyone in the hangar to become tense. Meia herself was scared for her life as she stared down the barrel of the pistol.

"You want to die so badly? Go ahead, it's your prerogative! Just don't drag the rest of us down with you! Here's some advice: Life's what you make of it. It's not something you can just discard Meia. You only live once in this world! Don't waste it!"

Sol holstered his pistol and turned to leave, but not before turning and speaking out one last message.

"I hope that you take my advice this time because if you keep this up you'll be causing more people suffering than you think."

With that, the male Robben twin left, leaving the completely stunned Meia and the others in the hangar.

* * *

**Chapter 5 End.**

**Read and Review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 6: Your Choice**

* * *

The Nirvana crew was now in one hell of a battle with the Harvesters which was taking place near a massive asteroid belt, and the battle was not progressing they way the crew wanted as it went from bad to worse in a hurry.

The Harvesters had sent out a massive force of Seed Ships, Cube Fighters, a new fighter that was too fast and agile for the Dreads and even Antares to deal with and was using the asteroid field to its advantage for fierce hit and run attacks and had already taken out a number of the Dread pilots...including one in particular.

* * *

"CLEAR THE WAY!" Duero shouted as he once more checked his current patient…who was none other than Meia Gisborn and she was in critical condition.

During the battle, Hibiki had taken down an enemy trailing after Meia. She yelled at him, telling him she didn't need or want his help. While she was distracted another enemy tried to capitalize and attack her only to be intercepted and destroyed by Valkyrie, who lashed out at Meia to stay focused which only aggravated her.

Meia then tried to take out the Harvesters' latest fighter on her own. Fenrir warned her about how unwise that was but that only seemed to aggravate her further. She snapped at the male fighter pilot, telling him that she didn't need advice or help from a man before going off after the enemy. That nearly proved to be her undoing as the agile enemy took advantage of the area and surprised the Dread pilot as it struck her Dread dead on at the cockpit. The alien fighter would have finished her off had it not been chased off by Fenrir and Dita.

An enraged Valkyrie had called the Nirvana to tell them that Meia had been wounded and that was a bad sign for the female officers. Gascogne's delivery ship retrieved Meia's dread and brought it back to the Nirvana. They quickly towed the damaged fighter as it leaked coolant and parts and the crew were horrified to see that Meia was wounded and unconscious. As the gunnery that carried Meia was being wheeled into the Medical Bay, Duero McFile went to diagnose his patient's injuries as he was accompanied by Hibiki, Dita, and one of the Dread pilots in Meia's team.

"Surface wound to the head, ruptured spleen, broken femur and a severe concussion."

"You idiot! What were you thinking trying to take that thing all by yourself?! You were too rash!" Hibiki yelled out.

Meia didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around her as she aimlessly starred at the moving lights, her vision becoming blurry and her eyes starting to close as she faintly muttered "Mother?" before she passed out.

* * *

Back in space, the fight was getting a lot more complicated as the lone alien fighter and the Harvester forces kept up their vicious assault on the Nirvana. The Dread team and Antares Squadron did their best to defend against the enemy formation. Since Meia was shot down, it fell to Jura to command the Dread teams.

However, Jura had no prior leadership experience, as she had no idea of what she was doing and it showed very quickly.

"A-Team! Switch to formation Alpha One! B-Team...umm."

"AAAAHHHHH!"

"Jura! Get a hold of things! This formation you called for is a mess!"

"I KNOW! I KNOW! But..."

Jura closed her eyes as her Dread's shields absorbed another attack from the Harvesters as she tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. She wasn't the only one in panic as the other Dread Team leaders, who were also used to Meia's leadership were also in a panic on what to do.

"The outer layer of our shields has fallen!" Belvedere announced from the bridge.

"They're beginning to focus fire on the starboard bow" Amarone added.

There was confusion and pandemonium outside and the Harvesters were using that to their advantage to make severe hit and run attacks against the Nirvana and cause more in Reg Central, the situation was far from calm as the stress of the battle bled its way in and affected the staff. Gascogne however kept things cool and everyone in order as she reminded them that panicking was not going to solve things now.

* * *

In the Nirvana's bridge, Magno and BC looked on at the situation before them and listened into the communications from the Dread Teams. It seemed that Antares Squadron was managing to keep damage as low as they could but it was also obvious that the twin pilots were getting strained with defending the Nirvana crew and taking out some of the Harvester forces, and unless the crew found a way to take out the Harvesters soon, they were going to be in serious trouble.

* * *

In the Medical Bay, Duero and Paiway were doing their absolute best to keep Meia from losing her life as she was still unconscious and barely hanging on. They were treating her various injuries and working around the clock to make sure she lived through this mess they were in.

* * *

Out in space, the battle was not getting any better even with the Antares Squadron doing their best to cover the leaderless Dread Squadron and the Nirvana while taking down any Harvester ships that got in range. No matter what Fenrir and Valkyrie did, unless they found a way to get the morale of the Dread Squadron up and take down that new enemy fighter that was leading the enemy offense, they were going to lose this battle and the twin pilots were not in the mood for that.

"We can't let things like this!" Barnette shouted, ""Jura! We need a plan now!"

Jura, however, was no longer in the mood to lead the Dread Squadron and had reached her breaking point.

"Shut up! Don't ask me anything!"

Hibiki who was frustrated with the way things were going and wanting to take out the alien fighter that was the current leader of the enemy formation attacking them to put an end this whole mess before it got out of hand, decided to combine his Vanguard with Dita's Dread since he knew that while they couldn't keep up with it they might as well blow it to space dust.

"Damn it! We need to combine to take out that thing!" Hibiki quickly contacted Dita.

Dita was a bit surprised at that, as normally Hibiki was not the kind to combine when he wanted to as he preferred to settle battles on his own terms. This was naturally the very first time he was willing to combine with anyone, let alone her.

"Uh…sure!"

The Dread and Vanguard quickly fused together and out came the massive mech and they immediately defeated several more Cube Fighters as they tracked the alien fighter as fast as they could manage. The mech was far from being the most effective choice for speed, but it made do with deadly firepower and that might as well play a part in taking out the alien fighter and stopping the enemy attack for good.

Unfortunately the Vandread had to break the lock-on because the alien fighter attempted to use the asteroid field to its advantage and in hope that the massive mech would get destroyed by the asteroids. Fortunately for Hibiki and Dita they were able to avoid direct collision with the asteroids.

"Nice going! You had that thing and you didn't take it out?! Is that all a loud mouth like you can do?" Jura shouted as she came on the scene.

Hibiki, not in the mood for her whining and complaining retorted back at her.

"Look who's talking?! You couldn't even lead the Dreads if you're life depended on it! Give me advice when you know what the hell you're doing!"

"Shut the hell up! I don't need a MAN to tell me what to do!"

"Oh yeah?! Then do something about it!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU TWO!" Valkyrie yelled out, before her ADF-01 FALKEN flew past them, not in the mood to hear their argument while in the middle of a damn battle! "Focus on this battle first. When we finish with the enemy then you two can bitch and moan all you like!"

* * *

On the bridge, BC growled in anger at how badly they were losing the current battle and made it know.

"It seems we've relied on Meia's leadership too much, and we're paying dearly for it. We neglected to train someone to take Meia's place in the event something such as this would happen."

"It's not our fault entirely Buzam, it's because she would never let us train another to take her place, she always wanted to do things herself, never to rely on anyone but herself."

Magno knew a great deal about Meia ever since she met the young woman and knew just why she suffered from both her claustrophobia and her actions and words towards the crew. And as she narrated Meia's life to her second in command, Meia herself was seeing the same images of her own life in her mind.

"Ever since the tragedy that took her past life away from her, the public that had once supported her and her parents now turned their back on her, ridiculing her and calling her trash and worse. Meia realized that she had nothing left to call her own and she had ever since been forced to fight for it, and in the end she was all alone."

* * *

Fenrir who had kept his cool for most of the battle had reached his limit and decided to pull off a gambit.

"Valkyrie!"

"Yes, Fenrir?" Valkyrie asked.

"I need you to get the enemy's attention and lure them away from the Nirvana while I get my LSWM ready! When they are away from everyone I'll take them out in one shot!"

"Are you crazy?! You want me to be the bait? And worse I'll get caught in the blast zone!"

"If you got a better idea then tell me because we don't have a lot of options here. If not then go play the bait already!"

Valkyrie sighed and reluctantly decided to go along with this gambit. "Fine...Antares Two, wilco!"

Valkyrie fired two missiles and then the last shot from the FALKEN's TLS, taking out a group of fighters and getting the Harvesters' attention before she flew right through their formation. The Harvesters took the bait hook, line and sinker and chased after the ADF-01 FALKEN.

Once the enemy was focused on Valkyrie alone, Fenrir ordered the Dread Squadron to fall back. Jura, still in a foul mood snapped back at him.

"I don't need a man to tell me what to do!"

"Well then, if you want, you can stay in the blast zone of what's about to be one hell of an explosion." Fenrir responded to her, which got her attention quickly and got her fleeing from the blast zone. He resumed focusing on the enemy chasing Valkyrie until they were far enough before he gave the his wing man her next order and initiated the next part of the gambit.

"Valkyrie! Break away and gun it! Antares One, Fox Three! Fox Three!"

The Long Range Shock Wave Missile sped off towards the center of the enemy formation chasing down Valkyrie, just as she quickly broke away and sped off with her afterburners in full blast. The missile exploded in a huge mass of white, wiping out the confused group and forcing the remaining forces to retreat. Luckily Valkyrie escaped from the explosion without a scratch.

"The enemy is retreating!" Aramone announced.

"All pilots return to the ship!" BC ordered immediately.

* * *

Once all the pilots had returned to the ship, the maintenance crews quickly went to work, repairing and rearming all the damaged fighters.

Sol climbed out of his fighter and walked out of the hangar while ignoring a group of pilots who were whispering about how he used his sister as bait for his plan that got the enemy to retreat and were praising her bravery for going through with such a suicidal plan and coming out unscathed.

"He uses his sister as bait and puts her at risk to destroy the enemy. Some brother he is and why Nevan still hangs with him, I'll never understand." Barnette muttered out to other pilots who were with her.

That earned her a tap on her shoulder, followed by a haymaker to her face from Nevan who was angry at Barnette's comments.

"Like you could come up with something better. While you headless chickens were floundering about, my brother and I were trying to keep you guys from getting yourselves killed while counter attacking." Nevan said, "While that plan of his was very risky, it was a gamble that he was willing to make to turn the tables and it paid off. So instead of nit picking at the negatives of the plan, give my brother and flight lead credit where it's due because it's thanks to that plan that we got some breathing room for now!"

"He used you as bait for that plan?! How can you not have a problem with that?" Barnette countered as she got up from the floor.

"So? While I didn't like the plan, there were no other options left and the battle was getting worse by the second. So Sol, like any squadron leader made a call, while knowing full well the risks of his gambit and it paid off. So quit bad mouthing him behind his back and be glad that we saved your lives from getting worse." Nevan said, before she walked away from them to sit on a bench near the wall in the hangar.

* * *

Sol made his way to a certain place most of the crew did not expect him to go, the Medical Bay. Especially considering the person that was a patient there now, someone he hadn't been getting along with. When he arrived at the Medical Bay, he got the attention of Duero and Paiway who were still busy trying to save Meia's life.

"How is she doing, doctor?" Sol asked.

"We've stabilized her and stopped the bleeding, but we have another problem which is a fragment of the Paeksis lodged in her skull." Duero answered, "We have a way to remove it but there was no telling if that would have a fatal effect on her."

While Duero and Paiway turned back to look at Meia, Sol spotted something on the ground near his foot and proceeded to pick it up; it was the ornamental headpiece that Meia wore.

As soon as Sol picked it up, the world around him changed completely and he found himself in a completely different place.

_"Where am I and what is going on here?"_

_Sol looked around and spotted a trio of women walking together and having a good time and one of them looked like a younger version of someone he knows._

_'Is that Meia? Are those her parents? Oh, so this is her childhood.'_

_Sol watched Meia's past as if he was there himself as he watched the days that she spent with her Fahma and Ohma. There were days of happiness when they would give her a party and dot on her when she came home from school and there were days of sadness when her parents would fight and argue. Meia's parents were scientists who tried their absolute best to revitalize a part of Mejere that had grown barren and was no longer a viable place to live. That and the advancements that were promised for the people of Mejere made them famous._

_'She had a good family...just like Nevan and I. How nostalgic.'_

_The scene changed and Sol got to see another happy moment in Meia's childhood, one of the days she celebrated Christmas with her parents together. That was when her fahma gave her a present of a head-piece, the very same one she wore on her head. Her fahma commented on how beautiful Meia looked with the gift on her and that it was a gift from her ohma for her Christmas day, along with a small music box that she kept close to her. Another happy moment that made Sol happy, but also brought an ache in his chest which he managed to surpress._

_'No need to go recall that one yet.'_

_Unfortunately all good things tend to come to an end and things also tend to go wrong for some reason as the scene changed once more and Sol saw that things did go horribly wrong as the project failed several times and it made things even harder for them. All the problems piled up until the facility suffered an accident that forced everyone in the area to evacuate. It was then he saw the moment that would haunt Meia for a long time. _

_She was among the people being evacuated and the escape pods that would take the people to safety were already being filled up rapidly by many desperate people. That was when only the daughters were allowed to board the pods. Meia tried to reach out for her fahma, unwilling to be parted from her, however she only saw her mother shake her head as the doors of the escape pod closed and then she was surrounded by people and placed in total darkness. _

_'My God...so this is where it all went bad. That explains why she acts the way she does.'_

* * *

Back in the real world Nevan got up from the bench in the hangar and was about to leave to look for her flight lead when she spotted Jura huddling in a nearby corner. The blonde pilot was not physically and mentally ready to lead the Dread Squadron and her disastrous first attempt at commanding the Dreads and their formations, the blonde pilot curled up like a ball and was afraid to come back out.

"You all right?"

Jura looked up and saw Nevan Robben kneeling down and looking at her.

"Hey...let's talk. Just you and me, pilot to pilot, friend to friend." Nevan said in a friendly tone while playfully punching Jura's shoulder to get her to cheer up and talk. Jura knew that Nevan meant well with her actions and decided that she might as well talk before she broke down even more.

"I…I…I can't do this, I've made a real mess out of everything. I don't…I don't have what it takes to replace Meia."

"Don't be so full of yourself Jura."

Jura looked to see Gascogne looking at her as well. The head supplier can understand what Jura was going through, she knew for a fact that Jura had never taken a formal leadership position in the Dread Squadron because Meia never allowed anyone to and took all the responsibility. However she knew that now was not the time for self-pity just because something went wrong the first time.

"No one here expects you to lead the way Meia leads, nor is anyone blaming you for the mess out there, you were not ready but that does not mean you don't have what it takes to lead in the first place."

"Exactly Jura. We all have our own way of dealing with things." Nevan added, "You don't have to be like Meia to lead a squadron, do it as yourself and make decisions that you feel are right. Like you I was once forced to lead a squadron of mercenary pilots for the first time in place of my brother because he was deep in depression. I was wondering if I had what it takes to be a leader like him since I'd always admired and respected him. He had once told me to stay positive and be myself. Not be Sol but be Nevan and make choices that I thought were right. I led the squadron through one hell of a mission to take out some terrorist structures in Iraq and we came back successful and with few casualties. When I told my brother of my success, he was happy and even praised me telling me that I am just as good as a leader as he is and would have no problem following my orders if I was in charge. We're not freaking perfect, Jura. We all make mistakes. It's up to us to learn from them and grow. Just do what you do best as Jura and the rest will fall into place."

The female Dutch pilot left to look for her twin brother and squadron leader, leaving a smirking Gascogne and Jura to think about her words.

"She may not be from Mejere but she definitely knows how to give good advice." Gascogne said.

* * *

The VanDread was being maintained as Hibiki and Dita were in the combined machine. While it was nice that they got to take a breather thanks to Sol and Nevan Robben, there was still that alien fighter that leads the Harvester attack force was still out there and they were going to need a way to finish it off and end this battle when it comes back.

"Man, this sucks! We need to think of something." he said.

"I…I'm worried about Meia. Is she really going to make it?" Dita said with sadness.

"There's something my Grandfather used to tell me." Hibiki began explaining getting the redhead's attention, "You can complain, worry, and gripe all you want, but that doesn't mean that you always get an answer every time. The most important thing is when it's all said and done and you managed to get through it all somehow, will you be the person you wanted to be?"

Dita turned and looked at Hibiki as he smiled and continued.

"I know that you're worried about Meia but Duero's there to take care of her, and so is Paiway. The only thing that matters now is that we protect the ship and the Medical Bay, right?"

Dita smiled and wiped the tears from her eys as she replied.

"You're right…thanks Mr. Alien?"

Hibiki suddenly felt good about himself and he blushed a bit and looked away, not understanding the emotions that Dita's smile invoked in him. And naturally he decided to cover it up with an excuse.

"Well...I'm sure she would say the same thing if she were here, and stop calling me Mr. Alien already."

It was then that Jura contacted them and the other pilots in the hangar.

"Attention all Dread pilots. Change the frequency of your barriers and beams to the one I'm sending to you, this should cut off any chance of friendly fire."

Hibiki grinned, "That's right! We still have a card to play!"

* * *

Nevan finally found her brother coming out of the Medical Bay and coming towards her.

"There you are. How's Meia doing?" she asked.

"She's going to be fine. I'm confident in both Duero and Paiway's skills. Come on, we have a battle to finish." Sol replied as he walked past Nevan and towards the hangar.

_'Meia! Don't you give up here and now! You have friends and family here that care about you! Don't you dare throw your life away! Or I'll drag you back here and beat you the crap out of you! Either way, it's your choice. Just make the right one.' _

Nevan shook her head as she smiled and followed suit.

* * *

"I've got a plan I'm willing to try out that just might get us out of this mess, that is, if you're willing to listen." Hibiki said with a cheeky smile to Magno and BC.

The two looked at him and wondered just what the young teen had in mind this time. Magno decided to see just what he had in mind to get them all out of this mess.

"Oh yeah, this plan of yours won't happen to be a suicide mission?"

"Hah! Not even close! Besides I'm not planning to die yet, and when this is over I better expect one heck of a meal ready for us." Hibiki replied confidently.

Seeing the truth in his words, Magno smiled as she decided to go ahead with the plan.

"Alright then. If your plan works and you're still alive, then you can eat until you burst."

Hibiki grinned and replied, "Now that is the way I'd like to go. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"The enemy's coming back." Belvedere reported.

Magno announced, "Well then everyone, it's time for round 2! Let's give them hell!"

* * *

In the Medical Bay, Duero knew that what he was attempting to do was very dangerous, but now he was running out of alternatives to save Meia's life. He had Parfet rig up a special device for what he needed to shatter the Paeksis fragment stuck in Meia's head and bring her back from her comatose state. However the risks if it failed were dire. But seeing as their options were running dry on him, he had no choice but to go ahead with the procedure.

* * *

Back in space, The Vandread, Antares Squadron and the Dread Squadron got into position as the Harvester forces came back for another round.

Taking his place in front of Valkyrie, Fenrir looked around and spoke to his wing man.

"So, I take it that we have a plan to end this right? I don't think we can try that gambit again."

"Well it's Hibiki that has a plan! It's as crazy as that gambit but it also has a good chance to work." Valkyrie replied. Then she looked over to Jura's Dread. "So Jura, you ready to take command?"

"I guess you'll find out now won't you?" Jura replied in a cocky tone.

Valkyrie grunted a laugh before she looked ahead at the Fenrir in front of her fighter.

"So Fenrir, what's the plan this time?"

"This time we focus on defending. Engage only when necessary." Fenrir answered as the enemy formation came into view.

"Got it! Antares Two, roger!"

The battle started almost immediately and the lead enemy fighter and the other Harvester forces went straight for the Nirvana but were finding that hard to do due to the defensive efforts of Antares Squadron.

"Alright let's do this!" Hibiki contacted the Dread Squadron as the Vandread began to charge its dual cannons.

"Everyone move into position!" Jura ordered to all the dread pilots.

The Dreads flew and stopped in certain positions at varying distances from each other.

"All pilots, shields up!" Jura ordered once everyone was in position.

Fenrir and Valkyrie stayed next to the Nirvana as the shields went up and watched as the enemy closed in once more for another attack. Then suddenly the Vandread fired its cannons at the Dreads, the lasers bouncing and deflecting off their shields and creating a massive swarm of lasers that destroy every Harvester unit in their path. Not even the high-speed alien fighter could outmaneuver this and it got obliterated along with its comrades, resulting in one massive victory for the Nirvana crew.

Back in the bridge everyone looked in shock and awe at the devastation caused by the insane attack.

"What an insane idea! Using our Dreads' shields to reflect his shots right into the enemy!" BC said.

"Insane? Yes, but it worked, and now we are in the clear." Magno said with a smile, impressed by the plan Hibiki came up with and managed to pull off successfully.

With that the Vandread, the dreads and Antares Squadron returned to the Nirvana.

* * *

Meia found herself in a grass field with a clear blue sky. She felt at peace with herself, thinking she could stay here forever.

"Meia…"

Said woman turned and saw her mother looking at her, alive in her mind and she couldn't help but feel shocked and yet filled with relief and happiness.

"Mother?"

"You should not give up on life so easily Meia. You are a lot stronger than this."

"No mother! You...You were never the weak one! I was the one that was weak. I never had the courage to understand others. I was afraid of showing others how I felt, because…I was afraid of being hurt again and not being loved."

"Meia, you have a strong will and a gentle heart. You have people who care for you back there Meia…they need you, and trust you. You cannot leave them now, you will make them utterly sad if you die now."

Meia then saw images of her fellow pirates...Jura, Dita, Barnette, Gascogne, Magno, BC, Paiway, Parfet and the other women she worked with. Then she saw the men in the crew...the whiney Bart, the calm and collected Duero who tried to help with her deal with her claustrophobia and she ignored him, and Hibiki the Vanguard pilot, and how they clashed with one another and how they would square off. She finally saw the twin pilots Sol and Nevan Robben of Antares Squadron.

She recalled Nevan's explosive and lively personality when by not in battle and how quick she would beat down anyone who said anything bad about her brother but also her seriousness and fierce piloting skills in battle that she respected.

Then there was Sol with his calm but cold personality that was almost the same as hers but without her attitude. She also recalled how he'd put up with her and the other women on the Nirvana but not take rubbish from any of them. Meia didn't want to admit it but she respected Sol as a fellow leader of his squadron even if he was a man. However she noted that he too was hiding a secret of his own but did well hiding it. She once more recalled his words from after the mission in the desert.

_"...You're weak."_

_"...you're weak, not physically but mentally. I don't know what happened in your past and honestly I don't give a damn. However you'd better get over it before it gets you killed in the future!"_

_"You think you're the only person who's lost and suffered a lot Meia? You're so blind that you don't even know that they are people who are worse off than you..."_

_"Some chose to succumb to their suffering and die like the weaklings they were while others managed to move on, find something to live for and got stronger for it." _

_"Life's what you make of it. It's not something you can just discard Meia. You only live once in this world! Don't waste it!"_

_"...if you keep this up you'll be causing more people suffering than you think."_

What made him act like that? He spoke like someone who meant what he said and spoke from experience. Meia had ignored those things before but now that she thought about what Sol had said to her made sense.

She looked at her mother who smiled back at her and she began to see her fade away, she didn't want to lose her mother now…not after seeing her alive once more…even if it was possibly only an illusion.

"Mother! Please don't go! I have so many things to tell you!"

"I know my dear…I will not disappear as long as you keep me in your heart and one more thing, the man known as Sol Robben, he needs help to deal with his own pain before it consumes him too."

"Sol? His own pain? What do you mean mother?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself Meia, now please Meia…live."

"Mother…"

Soon everything faded away and Meia found herself alone in darkness once more.

Two doors appeared in front of her and both were calling to her.

One door seemed to show her a place where there was peace, rest and an end to all her sufferings, but in unending darkness. The other door showed her a place filled with more hardship, suffering and pain but in light itself and with the support of those close to her.

Meia took a deep breath and thought about all the things she had been able to think about, and made her choice.

* * *

Meia opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling of the Medical Bay and soon found herself being looked over by Paiway and Parfait, both girls were sobbing hard as they looked at her with utter relief in their eyes.

"You came back Meia!"

"We were so worried…all of us were!"

Meia couldn't help but smile at her two comrades.

"Oh, stop it you two." she replied. She moved her hand to her face and see if she was truly whole and began panicking as she realized that her head-piece was gone and she gasped, hoping that it was not destroyed in the battle beforehand.

"Don't worry, it's right here."

Meia looked to see Duero holding the head-piece in hand, cleaned and ready for her to take back. He handed the circlet to her.

"This is something important to you isn't it?" Duero asked.

"Not really, it's a reminder." Meia replied calmly as she looked at the head-piece.

* * *

Later at the end of the day, the Nirvana moved on and out of the asteroid field. The crew had earned a peaceful night. A celebration for surviving their toughest battle yet was held in the cafeteria attended by everyone except Duero, Meia and Sol. After that the ship was quiet except for a few exceptions.

Buzam sighed in the bridge as she looked over the scanners of ship and looked out into space.

In the Botanical Gardens were Ezra and Nevan sitting on a bench. Ezra was rubbing her growing belly and smiling at the fact that they were all safe and she would have a chance to have her baby daughter born soon while Nevan looked at the pregnant mother with a sad smile. Then they both looked up into the stars before them in the viewing dome.

In the Medical Bay was Duero working on a medical log while Paiway was asleep after drawing a picture and Pyoro was busy downloading information and resting.

Parfet once more was in despair as she lost to Gascogne in cards which they played in the Engineering Bay.

Meia couldn't sleep and she got out of her room and went to the cafeteria. When she got there she saw plates stacked upon plates and bottles littering the tables. Jura and Barnette were leaning on a wall and were fast asleep side by side. And Dita was sleeping as well, with Hibiki nearby and snoring, bare of his jacket. She had been informed of the celebration the crew had earlier which was why she wasn't mad about the breach in discipline and let it slide since she felt that they deserved it especially after they won without her help.

"They all did their best out there today."

Meia turned and saw Magno walk towards her.

"Oh, it's you Captain."

Magno walked towards Hibiki and took his jacket, putting it on him to keep him from catching a cold.

"It's very ironic. He's the exact opposite of you, the passionate fool. But he's won everyone's hearts and right under our noses too. You two are very much like each other, Meia the only difference is that he expresses his emotions."

"Captain…I…"

"Meia, don't you think that now is the time to find some forgiveness, for yourself?"

Magno then left the cafeteria, leaving Meia to contemplate on what the elderly captain said. She then realized that she needed to see one more person.

* * *

Sol was in the gym, bare of his top and wearing just his pants and MMA style gloves and hanging upside down on a bar by his legs with his eyes closed. He was thinking back about a certain conversation he had with a certain person he never thought he'd talk with.

_After seeing Meia's past, Sol found himself in another place. A large grass covered field with small white flowers sporting from the ground and white doves flying above him. For some reason he felt at peace in this place but he was also confused at the same time._

_"Okay...this is getting too weird for my liking." he said._

_Then from out of nowhere a woman in a long shining white dress appeared beside him. Sol jumped back a little, surprised by her sudden appearance._

_"Nice trick ma'am. But could you not do that again?" Sol said, after regaining his composure._

_However the woman merely smiled at him before greeting him._

_"Hello."_

_"Hello to you too." Sol replied. Then he recognized who he was talking to. "May I know what the spirit of Meia's mother wants from someone like me?"_

_"To talk to you. That's all." Meia's fahma/mother said._

_"Fine. Let's talk then."_

_"First, can I get your name please?"_

_"Sol Robben. And it's not everyday that a spirit comes to talk to someone."_

_"No, it is rare for spirit to even chat with people. However the fact that you're here shows that you're be a special person." _

_"Me? I'm not anyone special. I'm just a normal person like you daughter and everyone else."_

_"Well I'd say that you are since you share something similar with my daughter."_

_"I'm sorry m'am but I don't see anything that me and Meia have in common."_

_Meia's mother gave Sol a sad smile as she walked up to him before holding his hand in her own hands. Sol felt a little embarrassed by that and looked away from her._

_"Like my daughter, you lost something precious to you." That got Sol's attention. "While you looked at my daughter's past, I looked into yours and while the circumstances were different, you both ended up the same. However you had someone to help you move past that and you even tried to help my daughter get past her own pain. But you still haven't completely moved on, have you Sol?"_

_Sol raised an eyebrow and he stared at her with an annoyed expression as he removed his hand from her grasp._

_"I'd appreciate it if you didn't look into my past memories. And as for my life I'm doing just fine."_

_"Please...you don't have to do this yourself Sol. You have to let go and not keep this bottled up in you. If not it could consume you and make someone close to you sad too and I know you wouldn't want that." Meia's mother pleaded._

_"Well...sorry about what happened to you, the one you loved and Meia. No one deserved that. What I hope for now is that Meia makes her choice, the right choice." Sol said._

_"And what about you Sol?" Meia's mother asked._

_Sol put his hands in the pockets of his flight suit_

_"As for me...I made my choice long ago."_

_After he said that the world around Sol turned white and then he found himself back in the Medical Bay, with Duero asking if he was alright. Sol apologized saying that he was lost in thought before giving him Meia's head piece and telling the doctor to make sure she gets it back in good condition before leaving the Medical Bay._

* * *

Sol was brought back to reality when he sensed someone coming and opened his eyes to see Meia walking towards him.

"Hello, Meia. Nice to see that you made the right choice. What are you doing up and about?"

"I'm fine...I…want to talk to about something."

Sol adjusted himself back up on the bar, gripping it with his hands and getting his legs off before adjusting himself once more and letting himself back down to the floor. He then turned to face Meia.

"Go on. I'm listening."

"Well...I want to apologize."

"Huh? For what?"

"For not listening to your advice before that recon mission a few months ago. Because of my pride I almost got you and the others killed."

"There's no need to apologize to me. Besides I overreacted there myself."

"But I do...please hear me out. You are an amazing pilot and squadron leader. You're very calm and collected, controlled and you rarely let things faze you. Just like in that recon mission where you took control and led the team out of that planet alive. I'd like to say thank you and I'm glad that you're a part of our crew."

"Well I'm your comrade, Meia. And comrades watch out for each other so you don't need to thank me...but you're welcome all the same."

Meia nodded in acceptance of Sol's reply and it was then that she decided to ask him something about his private life and she knew that Sol rarely talked to the crew unless necessary but Magno told her to open up to others and not only that...there was also the message her mother gave her about Sol needing help before he ends up like her or worse, but she knew that it would bring back something the man did not want to remember.

"Sol, can you tell me about your past?"

The Dutch man cocked his head in suspicion at Meia's question.

"Why do you want to know?"

The suspicion in his voice made it clear to Meia that she was right about Sol's past being something he did not want to revisit. But still if she was to help her comrade like he did for her, then she'd have to know more about him.

"Call it as a way to get to know you since we're comrades. Right Sol?"

Sol just looked at Meia with a blank look as he wondered whether he should tell her about his past or not. Though Meia meant well and wanted to know more about her comrade, since he knew about her own past, he felt that he wasn't ready to go back down that memory lane and decided that it'll be better if he told her at another time...when he was ready.

"I know that you mean well Meia, but I don't think I want to share my past with you yet. However I promise that I'll tell you at another time, when I'm ready."

After saying that Sol smiled sadly as he picked up his t-shirt and left the gym while leaving Meia in confusion. She wondered about just how painful his past was and how much pain he's still in.

* * *

**Chapter 6 End.**

**I don't know whether I should pair Sol with Meia or have him more like a mentor to her. Give me your ideas on that. As for his past, that will be revealed much later.**

**Read & Review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Just the OCs are mine.**

**Chapter 7: Bonding**

* * *

The Nirvana was cruising through space, with a vast portion of the Nirvana crew taking it easy for a change since there hadn't been any battles for the past few days, which was a good thing.

One of those taking it easy was Dita who was in her room, which was filled with a lot of alien memorabilia, which explained her desire to meet aliens. She was currently sewing together a pink pillow with a cute blue alien in the middle.

"Ow! That hurts!" Dita complained as she accidentally pricked her finger with the needle that she was using to sew the pillow.

Paiway, Dita's best friend ever since joining the pirates, had been watching for some time and wondered just what her friend was doing.

"Hey Dita, are you making that for someone?" she asked out of curiosity.

The redhead smiled as she places a hand on her cheek to hide the blush on it. Paiway took that as a yes and smiled since she happened to find the pillow to be nice and thought it would be nice to have it as well.

"Because if you are then you can give it to me!" Paiway suggested.

Dita however shook her head and pulled the pillow away and hugged it tightly.

"No way! I'm sorry Paiway, but I'm making this for Mr. Alien!"

The young nurse had a sad and slightly annoyed look on her face which she voiced with her frog puppet.

"Barf! Kero!"

In the bridge, Belvedere was telling Amarone a certain story she knew from Mejere, Ezra was sleeping on her bridge control console and Magno and BC just looked on.

"It seems that if we're not under attack, things get rather dull around here." BC said as she sighed at how relaxed everyone was.

"I wasn't aware that you were into all that military ballyhoo BC." Magno said in amusement.

"I'm only concerned with the safety of the crew Captain."

"Our business is piracy, am I right?"

"I know that…but still…"

Magno could understand Buzam's unease and boredom, but the crew however deserved a break after all the things that had happened to them.

"Sometimes, even pirates like us need to enjoy a little R&R."

* * *

Dita had arrived at the hangar bay with her finished pillow looking for Hibiki. She wanted to show her latest creation to her Mr. Alien knowing he was going to love it. (Yeah, according to her that is.) However, she was surprised to find that Hibiki was not in the Hanger Bay working on his Vanguard as he normally does.

"Mr. Alien? Are you here?"

Dita looked into the open cockpit of the Vanguard and was surprised not to find him there, she then moved back as she looked about a lot more.

"That's really strange…I thought that he was going to be here."

Dita then spotted Sol in work overalls, looking in the cockpit of the Fenrir and decided to ask him if he had any idea where Hibiki was.

"Um Sol? Hello?" she called up to the Dutch pilot.

Sol popped his head out of the cockpit and saw the redhead below.

"Hello, Dita. Looking for something?"

"Yes I am. Have you seen Mr. Alien? I have a present for him."

"No idea. I haven't seen him today. He's most likely at the Medical Bay seeing Duero."

Dita thanked Sol and rushes out of the hangar. As soon as she left the hangar, Sol looked back at the Vanguard.

"She's gone. You can come out now." he said.

Hibiki fell from the space above the cockpit of his Vanguard and unto the seat.

"Thanks for the help Sol." Hibiki said as he climbed out of the Vanguard cockpit, "Darn it! What does she want from me this time?!"

"I don't know...She wanted to give you something." Sol deadpanned, "And you kid need to seriously man up and stop hiding from her. You're an adolescent, on the road to being a man for crying out loud."

"It's not like I don't like her Sol. She's cooks great food and all, but it's just that I'm getting sick and tired of her antics." Hibiki replied.

"I say that the girl wants to be friends with you." Sol said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Now go and talk to her. It can't be that bad, right?"

Hibiki groaned in annoyance as he took his toolbox and climbed down the ladder, before leaving the hangar.

Sol sighed as he turned his attention back to the Fenrir's cockpit. "That kid really needs to man up already." He then sees something and picks it up. After getting a closer look at it, he closes his eyes, sighs and puts the object in his pant pocket before he climbs down from the plane.

Dita later arrived Hibiki's room with her pillow but still didn't find him. She looked under the bed and other places in the room, and she even peeked into his locker. She then looked at the large piles of boxes and other materials all over the room which was in disarray. Dita then smiled as she decided to tidy the place up a bit. She quickly moved the boxes and placed them in a good order, swept the floors with a broom and got rid of the dust in the area with a duster. After that she decided to make some changes to the room and when she was done, she was tired and lay down on the bed as she had placed her head on the pillow she had made for Hibiki.

It was a few minutes later that Hibiki returned to his room and was stunned to suddenly find his room very clean and filled with strange alien items and he also spotted Dita sleeping on his bed.

"What in the world?!" Hibiki wondered. Then he rushed over to the sleeping redhead, "Hey! Wake up!"

Dita woke up and smiled at Hibiki in her usual fashion as she jumps out of the bed and does a little ballerina spin.

"What do you think? I made your place neat and tidy!"

"Neat? Tidy? What the heck did you do to my room?!" Hibiki countered. Instead of giving him an answer to his question, Dita presented the pillow she made and smiled at him.

"Here! I made this for you!" she said.

Unfortunately for Dita, that was the last straw in Hibiki's mind.

"GET OUT!" Hibiki shouted as he kicked the redhead out of his room and threw out all the decorations and the pillow too.

* * *

In the planning room, Nevan is currently helping Meia to think up new formations with the Dreads, centered around the Vandread and the Antares Squadron if need be, since she had nothing else to do after some training at the gym.

"This isn't good. The left side is uneven, and if me and Sol were enemies we'd focus on it and slip through to attack the ship." Nevan pointed out as she pointed at the opening in the formation.

"I see your point, Nevan." Meia admitted before rearranging the formation.

"Much better." Nevan said just as the door opened. Both pilots looked over to the door to see Dita, standing there with a sad look on her face.

"Dita?" Meia asked her subordinate.

"Oh, hi Meia, Nevan." Dita said after realizing who were in the room. She then told them what happened which got Nevan pissed off. While she admitted that Dita invaded Hibiki's privacy that did not mean that the teen lashed out like that to the young woman who clearly had feelings for him.

"Excuse me Meia, Dita. I'll go deal with this." Nevan said as she gets up from her seat and leaves for Hibiki's room.

"Dita, I'm not so good with words and I certainly don't want to encourage your curiosity, but I don't believe it's right for you to try to force your way into someone's heart." Meia said.

Unfortunately her words didn't do much to lift Dita's spirit. In fact, it made her even more depressed.

Nevan reached Hibiki's room just in time to see the Tarak teen throw out the last of Dita's alien decoration.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nevan asked.

Hibiki turned to look at her and answered, "Getting rid of this rubbish! Man, that girl just comes into my room and decorates it without my permission. It's getting really annoying!"

"Well I believe that she's got feelings for you and is just trying to be nice. There's no crime in that." Nevan explained.

"Yeah, well, it's just annoying." Hibiki retorted.

Nevan pissed off at his answer, rushed up to Hibiki, picked him up by his shirt and shoved him into the nearest wall of the room. She looked Hibiki in the eyes, showing him that she was sick of his attitude towards the women and rejecting Dita's feelings for him.

"Look here you little prick, I'm sick of your crappy attitude towards the women. Sure you're pals with Duero and Bart because they're from Tarak just like you but you need to man up and start to get along with these women." After saying her piece, Nevan dropped Hibiki from her grasp, with the teen landing on the floor hard and yelping.

"Quit yelping down there and get moving! We got a meeting at the planning room." Nevan said.

In the Botanical Garden, Dita was busy throwing stones at the artificial river as she tried to make sense of why every time she tried to get closer to her Mr. Alien, he would get mad and push her away.

"Why? Why? Why? WHY?!" Dita lamented as she threw the last stone before sitting down, "I just wanted to get to know a little more about Mr. Alien…"

It was then that Paiway showed up and showed Dita a picture of the redhead from behind and it seemed different from a normal picture as there were waves coming out Dita's form.

"I took a picture of you with the new camera that Parfet made for me...Dita? Are you depressed?"

Dita looked sadly at Paiway.

"Isn't that obvious?"

She then got even more depressed as she looked back at the river and recalled one of her sadder memories growing up back on Mejere a long time ago before she joined up with the pirates. She had a pet blue-bird, a small bird that she doted on as a little girl but it became weaker and weaker until it died.

"It's just like the time I was still a kid and I had a pet blue-bird until it passed."

"A pet blue bird? I didn't know you had one before Dita."

"Yeah…It was the very first pet I ever had before. It was so full of life and energy and I doted on it every day, I fed it right, I took care of it the way I was taught how. It was fine at first…but every day it began to get weaker and weaker until it died."

Paiway thought about it and then spoke to her best friend.

"Well, did you ever think that maybe it got tired and died because you kept trying to barge into its life?"

That quickly got Dita's attention as she looked at Paiway with shocked eyes. Paiway was just joking, hoping to get her friend to think about other things, but she was surprised that Dita was now looking at her with shock and intensity that slightly unnerved her.

"Are you trying to say…that I'm doing the same thing?" Dita asked.

"What same thing?" Paiway asked back in confusion.

"That I'm making Mr. Alien tired too, like my pet blue-bird before?" Dita asked again.

"Well I did hear Hibiki once say that he gets real tired when he's around Dita." Paiway said through her frog puppet.

The statement stunned Dita as she thought that when she was near Hibiki, he would eventually become tired and die just like her pet blue-bird all those years ago. The image of Hibiki lying on the floor dead all because of her filled Dita's heart with pain and fear as her eyes widened at the thought, and to hear from Paiway that Hibiki himself said that made her feel worse.

"He…said that…" Dita whispered.

Paiway then realized that Dita had taken her joke very seriously as she looked even more sad and depressed and the apprentice nurse was not expecting this to happen.

"Dita…" she said.

"I get it. I just have to face facts don't I? I'll just be in his way…" Dita said and became more depressed and sad.

"Hey Dita, wait a minute! I didn't mean it was that bad! Hey come on…I was just making a joke, you understand right? I was kidding." Paiway exclaimed in panic. Unfortunately Dita had become inconsolable as she moped on the floor.

* * *

In the bridge, Magno was currently relaxing on her chair got an incoming message from none other than Meia.

"Excuse me captain, I'd like to take this time to have the Dreads practice new formations with the VanDreads and Antares Squadron." Meia said.

"I swear you and BC are cut from the same cloth." Magno sighed and looked at the monitor, "Why don't you at least take a break? We're not under attack now."

Meia coughed a bit and replied, "With all due respect, Captain, our world and that of the men happen to be under threat from the Harvesters. We cannot afford to get too comfortable just because we are not under attack."

As Meia's screen vanished, Magno groaned almost in a disappointed way at how like minded Buzam and Meia were, she hoped that someday, the two of them could at least loosen up and enjoy what life had to offer them.

Sol and Hibiki entered the meeting room, where the other Dread pilots were already in, namely Jura and Barnette, along with Gascogne, Nevan and Meia who was giving the briefing.

"You're both late." Meia said to them.

"I hope that you're only telling him that." Sol said nonchalantly, "Antares Squadron is not even part of your formations."

Hibiki just pretended not to care that he was a few minutes late as he made his way to one of the nearby benches. Jura notices that Dita hasn't arrived.

"Where's Dita?" she asked.

"What do I look like, her baby sitter?" Hibiki replied.

"What did you do now you moron?" Sol asked.

Before Hibiki could answer, the doors to the meeting room slid open as Dita walked in and in a much worse mood than normal which was a surprise to everyone, including Sol but he was quick to figure out the problem and glared at Hibiki, unnerving the teen.

"You're late, Dita." Meia said.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." the redhead apologized as she took her seat and tried to evade Hibiki's gaze. This surprised the Tarak teen even more as he had expected her to be back to her cheerful self by now but that was not so.

Meia sighed as she began to speak to the gathered Dread pilots, while acknowledging the Antares pilots.

"We're going to be working on some new formations that will incorporate the VanDreads and Antares Squadron. The VanDread that Dita's Dread forms with Hibiki's Vanguard will form the main…"

"Forget it."

Everyone looked at Dita in shock except Sol as they had expected the redhead to jump at the chance to combine with Hibiki as she normally did. Even Hibiki was a bit surprised at that sudden statement and Meia was surprised at this sudden change of attitude from the redhead.

"Forget it because I won't combine with Mr. Alien and his partner anymore."

That surprised everyone even more and especially Jura, who tried to take advantage of the situation.

"Aha, I get it…You're starting to get bored with Mr. Alien, aren't you?" Jura said.

Dita shook her head and replied.

"No. I've realized that Mr. Alien isn't happy with me, so from now on you can combine with him Jura."

"Dita, we don't have the time for this, this isn't a game you can just stop playing, and this is not the place for you to take you're personal problems, is that understood?" Meia reprimanded the redhead.

Dita looked at Meia and nodded solemnly.

"Yes Meia."

Once Meia finished explaining how the formation would be set up, the pilots began to go to the simulation room, however, Sol walked up to Hibiki and the look on his face clearly showed that he was not in a good mood.

"Hibiki. You. Me. Outside. NOW!" he said in an angry tone while pointing at the door.

That alone scared Hibiki shitless as he dumbly nodded and went out of the room with Sol following him. Nevan just shook her head at the interaction between the two men and sighed.

"What do you think your brother's going to do to him?" Jura asked Nevan.

"Try to get Hibiki to fix this mess as 'calmly' as he can." Nevan deadpanned.

"Why did you say 'calmly'?" Barnette asked noticing the sarcasm.

"I mean that Sol's going to try to deal with this without killing Hibiki." Nevan stated.

* * *

"GAAAH!" Hibiki yelped as he found himself held up by his shirt again and bashed into the wall by Sol, and this time he was at gunpoint.

"What the hell was that for kid?!" Sol asked.

"Well I just can't stand her suddenly barging in and doing things that don't make sense to me at all! And she's always calling me Mr. Alien!" Hibiki replied, fearful of the gun in his face and Sol's cold glare.

"So? That does not mean that you lash out at her you moron!" Sol shouted while pressing the .45 ACP on Hibiki's head, "The girl's trying to be nice you know. She may be very forward with her approach but that's how she is and you'd do well to be respectful of her!"

"B-But..." Hibiki tried to ask but got interrupted by the sound of the gun's hammer being pulled back.

"No buts, what you did was uncalled for! I know that you still got trust issues with the women in this ship but they are your comrades just as much as mine. Now when I let you go, I want you to fix this mess out between you and Dita. Understand?" Sol said.

Hibiki nodded quickly, "Y-Y-Yes! I understand!"

Sol removed the gun from Hibiki's forehead and gently put him down before holstering his .45 ACP.

"Good. Now get out of my sight!"

Hibiki complied as he made himself scarce before Sol got any ideas.

In the simulation room, Meia was watching the pilots practice the new formations, while she was kept company by Sol, Nevan and Gascogne.

"So...Why did you ask for us to be here exactly?" Sol asked Meia, "We're not part of the formation so there shouldn't be a reason for us to be here."

"You and Nevan have more experience as pilots than anyone here. What's more is your skills as pilots can't be denied. Because of that I asked for both of you to be here so you could observe and make suggestions on how to improve the formation."

"I have no problem with that." Nevan said, "Our advice would help them in the long run."

Sol just shrugged and stared at the monitor showing the simulation run.

"Alright, you make a good point."

Watching the progress of the simulation, Sol and Nevan kept track of everyone's position even the position of the simulated enemies on the monitor. Both Meia and Gascogne noticed the sudden increase in the twins' rapid eye movement as they saw the pilots observe the simulation with interest.

"Dita! Your response time is dropping again! Hibiki! You too are losing your focus!" Nevan said, "If this was a real battle you'd both be dead three times over by now."

"Right...sorry." Dita replied from the radio.

"Fine...I'm on it!" Hibiki also answered.

"That's not good." Gascogne noted, "The girl's got her mind on other things."

"Same goes for the kid." Nevan added.

Sol sighed as he closed his eyes. "This is too bad to watch. At this rate either Nevan or I could easily shoot them all down alone. The formation's good but those two are too distracted. All it takes is for the enemy to shoot them down and everyone else goes down like dominos. They'd better shape up before they get everyone killed in battle."

* * *

An hour later, the crew went to the cafeteria to take a break and enjoy their lunch. Sol and Nevan arrive in time to see Jura leaving the place while laughing wickedly and Barnette following her looking worried, causing them to sweat drop at the blonde woman.

"Do you have any idea what she's laughing about?" Nevan asked her brother.

"Don't know, don't care and honestly, don't want to find out either." Sol deadpanned.

Both went to grab their lunch and sat at a table in the far corner of the room.

"Mind if we join you?"

Sol and Nevan looked up from their food to see Meia and a depressed Dita standing with their food.

"Do whatever you want." Sol said.

"We don't mind." Nevan added.

Meia and Dita joined the twins at the table, Meia sitting next to Sol and Dita sitting next to Nevan. As time went by, Meia and Nevan noticed that Dita had not touched her lunch yet. Sol looked elsewhere as he noticed that Hibiki was sitting all alone on his table. He looked on as Duero was about to sit down at the teen's table, but then moved away, much to Hibiki's surprise and while Sol couldn't hear what they were saying, he could see that Duero said something that apparently pissed Hibiki off and he began to munch on his meal at a faster pace.

Turning his attention back to the table he was on, Sol noticed that his twin sister was getting very edgy and from the looks on Meia and Dita's faces, he had an idea that Nevan wanted to get really violent with someone and he had an idea who it was.

"I know what you're thinking Nevan and I suggest that you don't do it."

"Why?"

"I know that you have good intentions behind what you want to do but this is something that the two of them have to settle by themselves."

Dita looked up at Sol in surprise, and then turns to looks at Hibiki, who avoided making eye contact and continued rapidly munching his food.

Jura is in her room with a guest who was very suspicious about the blonde woman in front of him.

Bart had no idea about why he was called in by Jura and was very suspicious of her due to being taught from birth that women were not to be trusted and were conniving, deceitful, and had ulterior motives. So far none of that was going on.

"What exactly is it you want from me?" Bart asked, getting the ball rolling.

"I want you to help me on something." Jura answered.

Bart looked on in surprise. The very idea of a woman asking a man for help was...unexpected...and this piqued his curiousity.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"You see, Dita has been getting in my way, managing to get Hibiki for herself. I'd like you to play baby sitter and keep her occupied until I can finally be able to combine with him." Jura explained to Bart.

"Okay...so what's in it for me?" Bart asked.

"Simple. You help me and I'll help you gain more respect and be treated like royalty on this ship. I bet that you would like that, won't you?" Jura answered.

"Royalty, huh?" Bart wondered as he pictured himself being respected more and treated like a king, "That doesn't sound bad."

"Of course it doesn't and I want to do it soon!" Jura said. The two start laughing at the plan.

* * *

Hibiki sighed as he returned to his room, getting more and more tired and frustrated at the current situation between him and Dita. Moving to his bed, he then spotted the very same pillow that Dita had tried to give him. He reached to it and move it away, but he stopped as he sat on his bed and decided to just look at it for the time being while thinking about the situation.

"Feeling lonely?"

Hibiki turned and found himself looking at none other than Pyoro floating near him.

"What the heck do you want from me this time?" Hibiki asked.

"Are you worried about Dita?" Pyoro asked after noticing the pillow Hibiki was holding, which annoyed Hibiki once more.

Hibiki snapped, "Now listen here you bucket of bolts! What makes you think I'm worried about that annoying girl? She makes me feel tired and I am so annoyed with her butting into my private space all the time! It's people like her I hate the most!"

Hibiki and Pyoro hear a gasp behind them, both turn around to see the red-haired Dread pilot standing with a hurt look on her face. Both realize that she had heard everything and before either of them can move, Dita runs down the hallway leaving a trail of tears in her wake.

In the cafeteria, Ezra was once more eating a large cake with Nevan watching her and joking about her eating habits.

The two heard the door open and they turned and saw Dita in tears. Nevan dropped her happy-go-lucky look and replaced it with one of great concern and worry, while Ezra gasped at the state Dita was currently in.

"Dita?"

"EZRA!"

The redhead rushed into Ezra's arms and cried her heart out while Nevan could only look on and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together and immediately she lost it.

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT LITTLE BASTARD!" Nevan snapped as she drew out her .45 ACP and stomped out of the cafeteria while everyone else just sweat dropped at her reaction.

* * *

In Reg Central, Gascogne was busy working on the usual important details and making sure to check and double check everything since most of the crew were taking a break.

The head Supply officer then turned as the door of the Register opened and in came Hibiki, who was scared out of his wits and Sol who had the look of annoyance and frustration on his face. Just by looks on their face, Gascogne could tell that Hibiki did something stupid again and Sol got involved in it.

"What brings you two down here?" Gascogne asked.

"I just saved the brat from Nevan's feminine rage, which is not easy to do when she's fixated on annihilating someone. I decided to stop by here in case Dita was here." Sol explained.

"Unfortunately she's not here. Why are you looking for her?" Gascogne asked.

"Because this moron needs to apologize to her before I decide to give him to Nevan to deal with him." Sol said, which caused Hibiki to shiver in fear and the Dutch man to sigh. "So we'll be taking our leave."

"Hold on you two...how about a game?"

Sol and Hibiki looked and saw that the older woman holding a deck of cards in her hand. Hibiki calmed down and decided to play Gascogne's game to help him forget his near death experience, while Sol just sighed again. Gascogne noted that and smiled him.

"Don't worry Sol, it's just a friendly game of cards, there's no serious betting."

"Well since you put it that way I guess I'll play along."

With that the two men joined Gascogne at the table and began their game of poker.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Botanical Garden, Dita looks through a telescope that Parfet built. She's able to view a nebula where new stars are forming beneath the cloud of gas and dust.

"Wow, it's so pretty!"

"Do you like it?"

"It's amazing, Parfet. The stars are so close it feels like I can reach out and touch them! With this thing, I will able to discover new UFOs and aliens."

Hearing Dita sigh, Parfet decided to find out what was wrong.

"Something wrong?"

"It's nothing!"

The lead engineer titled her head in suspicion.

"Did you get in a fight with Hibiki or something?" she asked. Dita then proceeds to tell Parfet the whole story.

"I decided to stop being around him." Dita concluded.

"Why'd you do that?" Parfet asked.

"Mr. Alien thinks I'm a nuisance so I decided to stay away from him for his own good." Dita said.

"I see. I don't think he's a weakling in my opinion." Parfet said.

"I wanted to know more about Mr. Alien. Parfet, is that a bad thing?" The redhead admitted.

"Well when I get my hands on a new machine, I wanna know what makes it tick both inside and out. When you love something you wanna know more about it."

"Love." Dita muttered to herself. Then a strange warmth creeps its way through her heart.

"The scope was not the only I wanted to show you, Dita." Parfet informed, "I have something else if you're interested." She pulls over a portable computer and starts typing the constellation Virgo.

_"Virgo, the faithful century year of this sign. If you are honest with your feelings you will have good luck."_

Parfet smiled as she explained, "I added astrology and compatibility fortune to this thing."

"Compatibility?" Dita curiously asked.

"Why don't you look up your compatibility with him? I downloaded all the information about everyone on this ship, all you have to do is type his name on the keypad." Parfet suggested.

Dita types Hibiki's name in with nervousness and presses the enter key. Suddenly, the computer mysteriously short circuits and Dita collapses. Panicking, Parfet takes her to the infirmary. Fortunately Duero found nothing wrong with Dita after a diagnosis.

"She seems to be fine and I don't see any external injuries anywhere."

"Thank goodness."

The doctor then turned to Dita and asked, "Have you ever collapsed like this before?"

"This is the first time it happened." Dita answered.

"Do you remember how you felt before you passed out?" The doctor asked.

"It was my heart, it felt like it was being pinched really hard. I couldn't breathe and there was this feeling of light-headedness and confusion. The next thing I knew, I was here." Dita explained.

Duero thought it over and wondered just what could Dita to suffer like that. However, with no data to work with he couldn't give a more effective diagnosis.

"All right then…just get some rest and try not to overexert yourself."

"Yes Mr. Doctor."

"I'm sorry, I never expected this to happen." Parfet apologized.

"That's alright, Parfet. I know you were just trying to cheer me up." Dita replied. They suddenly hear the computer behind them making a strange noise and Duero sighs in annoyance as tried to figure out just what exactly was wrong with the computer.

"Again?" he muttered out loud.

"Something wrong?" Parfet asked.

"There's nothing to worry about. This happens often I'm still trying to understand its behavior but I must confess, I'm not fully acclimated to it yet." Duero answered.

"Let me see that." Parfet said as she walked over to the console and began her magic as she ran the systems diagnostics and pinpointed the problem.

"No wonder this thing is acting this way…the network circuit's been fried for weeks! This should have been repaired and replaced as soon as possible…why didn't you tell me that you've had this problem Doctor?!"

"I'm sorry for not calling you. But you were very busy with all your duties on the ship that I thought that it would have been unwise to bother you for this sort of thing…"

"Nonsense! Every device on the ship is my duty, and that includes everything here in the Medical Bay…now I'll need you're help to fix this problem."

Dita smiled as she saw the relationship between her friend Parfet and the Tarak doctor and it made her sad that her relationship with Hibiki was not the same as that of her friend and the Doctor. While Parfet is still busy lecturing Duero, Dita walked out of the room while telling Pyoro to not talk.

* * *

"AW NUTS!" Hibiki shouted out in frustration. He had just lost his next hand in cards as Gascogne was sweeping away the winnings, while Sol who had folded earlier just calmly looked on. So far the game was mainly contested by him and Gascogne and Hibiki was just the unlucky victim in the middle. While he didn't really like the card game, it was one of the way to pass time on air carriers and the NATO base back on Earth and he became a very good player in the process.

Gascogne admitted that Sol himself was a very good poker player like her even though he wasn't a fan of it as they had already split the game between them with her winning five hands out of ten with the mercenary pilot winning the other five.

"To be honest kid, you are the worst card player I've played with." Gascogne said to Hibiki.

"Oh yeah! Give me another hand! When I beat you, you'll be regretting those words!" Hibiki shouted.

Sol just yawned as he looked at both of them.

"Another hand please."

Another set of cards were dealt out as they went at their eleventh hand. Gascogne nodded on the difference between the Vanguard pilot and the Antares Squadron leader...Hibiki was hotheaded and arrogant in nature while Sol was calm and patient, concealing his emotions behind an unreadable face, which explained a lot during the poker game.

Hibiki smirked as he showed his hand.

"Check this out, Three of a Kind."

Gascogne smirked and showed hers.

"Full House."

Sol just looked at them and showed his own hand.

"Straight flush."

Gascogne and Hibiki looked on in shock as Sol swept up the earnings while keeping a straight face.

"Nuts! I've had it! What's the point of all this anyway?!" Hibiki yelled.

"The point of this card game is to read your opponents through their face or body language." Sol explained, "It also helps in being strategic and patient. With that you can easily tell when the opponent is bluffing or trying to bait you into making a mistake and therefore respond properly and vice versa. The same logic applies in the battlefield."

Gascogne nodded as she agreed with Sol's explanation of the game and the idea of applying the logic in battle. Sol then got up and left as he thanked the head supplier for the game. Gascogne then decided to talk about another issue as she shuffled the deck.

"What's going on with your partner? And not your machine I mean Dita." Gascogne asked.

"Why is she my partner?!" Hibiki asked.

"You two seem to be a good combination to me." Gascogne stated.

"Well I don't think so! She's very annoying!" Hibiki said, "Come on one more hand! I swear I'm going to win everything back this time!"

"That's not going to happen." Gascogne told him, "Like Sol explained earlier this is a game that requires the opponents to read each other's minds. The way you are today you might as well be showing me your hand the entire time. Come back when you've calmed down a bit."

"Why don't you mind your own business!" Hibiki shouted as he stormed out of the room. As he left Reg Central, he runs into none other than Pyoro once again. Both looked at each other.

"What is it?" Hibiki asked.

"Are you lonely?" Pyoro asked back.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Hibiki said in annoyance.

"Because…Dita's very lonely too." Pyoro replied, stunning the Tarak teen.

With that the Navi-robot left to look for Dita leaving Hibiki by himself in the hallway. Hibiki scratched his head and tried to figure out how the heck he was going to do to deal with this situation. He was interrupted from his thoughts by someone placing a hand on their shoulder. He looked up to see Sol beside him with a serious look on his face.

"Walk with me." Sol said to him.

* * *

Nevan was in the garden, deep in thought and looking up through the viewing area. The situation with Hibiki and Dita had brought back some memories of the Robben twins' childhood were a similar situation occurred with the twins. How she acted like Dita and Sol acted like Hibiki in a similar situation and how they dealt with it.

Her trip through memory lane was put on hold when she spotted Dita walking into the garden. She knew that Sol had told her to let Dita and Hibiki settle this problem themselves but she was not one to just stand by while people had problems and she also knew Sol himself would be doing something too to help.

"Hey Dita. Are you alright?" Nevan asked the redhead.

Dita stopped to look at Nevan with a sad smile, "Oh hello Nevan. I'm alright."

Nevan wasn't fooled by that as she looked at the redhead with a deadpanned expression.

"Nice try Dita. Tell me the truth."

"Well...um..."

"Yeeeeesssss Dita?"

"Okay I'm not completely alright Nevan."

"I could tell. It was written all over your face."

"I see. Well can I ask you something Nevan?"

"Sure, go ahead."

* * *

Sol and Hibiki arrived in the men's quarters. The male Robben motioned for Hibiki to sit on his bed while he leaned against the wall.

"Alright, I know that you have questions. Shoot."

"What makes you think so?"

"Your body language tells me everything. You're trying to figure out how you'll deal with your problem."

"Yeah and so far I've come up with nothing."

Hibiki covered his face with his hands as he sighed in frustration. Sol just glanced at him before he stared at the floor.

"Your situation is similar to one I had with Nevan at your age. She was always doting around me, always trying to make me smile and play with me." Sol explained.

"Really? Did she drive you crazy too?" Hibiki asked.

"At some point, yes, she did." Sol answered, "Initially I ignored her but like I said she drove me off the wall and I snapped at her. Not a good idea."

"He got mad at you and told you to leave him alone?!" Dita exclaimed.

"Yes he did." Nevan said, "I was so depressed because I thought my twin brother hated me."

"But did he?" Dita asked.

"No he didn't." Nevan answered with a smile.

"I was mad at myself for treating her like that." Sol said, "My own twin sister who's my best friend in the world. She thought she made me hate her."

"How did you fix the problem Sol?" Hibiki asked.

"Simple. By talking to her. Apologizing. Trying to find an even ground." Sol stated, "Like you should be doing already."

"Dita you shouldn't change yourself to be closer to Hibiki." Nevan said to the redhead, "You're fine the way you are."

"R-Really Nevan?" Dita stuttered.

"Of course. Besides if you change yourself, everyone would be worried. Me and even my brother too." Nevan replied, "Though you should tone down on your doting around Hibiki. He's still trying to get used to being with women. Just take your time and the rest will fall in line."

"Okay. Thanks Nevan." Dita said with a smile. Then she suddenly hugged the female Robben.

"Alright! Alright! You're welcome. No need to squeeze me!"

Suddenly the alarm goes off. It looked like the Harvesters decided to show up for another fight, as usual. The Dread Squadron, Antares Squadron and the Vanguard scramble to intercept them. While out in space Meia notices that someone is missing.

"Where's Jura? She's supposed to be out here!"

Barnette placed a gloved hand over her mouth as she suddenly remembered where her friend was.

"Uh-oh!"

Meanwhile the missing pilot in question is still in the room with Bart and both are drinking alcohol.

"Cheers!" They both said in unison.

"After I combine with him, a new and elegant Vandread will be created."

"And I will be the new captain of the Nirvana."

They then both laugh hysterically afterward.

"We'll deal with those two later! Right now let's send the enemy back to the scrap heap!" Valkyrie shouted out.

"Valkyrie! You're on my six! Let's deal with that group!" Fenrir ordered.

"Roger that!" Valkyrie acknowledged.

The Vanguard approaches the blue Dread.

"Hey, annoying girl!"

Hibiki contacted Dita. The redhead looked at the monitor to see the Vanguard pilot's face in it.

"Listen. I...um…how should I say this…?"

Hibiki scratched his head as he tried to figure out what to say.

"I'm...uh...sorry for yelling at you earlier. Just keep being who you are, okay?"

The apology certainly makes Dita happy as she smiles at him.

"Right! Let's combine Mr. Alien!"

"Right!"

The Vanguard and the blue Dread combine to form the Vandread Dita and the giant mech flies off to engage the opposition.

Inside the cockpit of her FALKEN, Valkyrie smiles at the combined machine.

"Those two will definitely make a great couple." she said.

"I agree with you, and I'm glad that they settled their little problem." Fenrir replied.

"So am I." Valkyrie said.

* * *

**Chapter 7 END. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault.**

**Chapter 8: The Twins' Past**

* * *

Sol shot up to a sitting position, breathing heavily as cold sweat covered his upper body. He leaned his back against the wall next to his bed as he calmed his breathing while using vest to wipe off the sweat from his face and the back of his neck.

"It's that nightmare again...how _convenient..._" he deadpanned.

Sol suddenly heard someone gasp and a thud. He turned to his left to see Nevan getting to a sitting position on the floor and trying to shake the stars out of her head.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Let me guess...the nightmare, right?"

Nevan groaned as she turned to see her brother sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at her with arms folded.

"Yeah. It's the nightmare alright...I thought that I moved past that."

"Same thing crossed my mind, sister..."

Sol moved to Nevan and helped her get up from the cold floor.

"By the way...wear some pants." Sol said while looking away.

Nevan looked down and saw that she wasn't wearing pants and is still in her white panties.

"Pervert." she said and playfully punched her brother's shoulder.

"I was just pointing out the obvious." Sol said.

After getting dressed in white t-shirts, grey pants and black boots with their dog tags around their neck, the twins left their room for their destinations. Sol going to the cafeteria while Nevan went to Reg Central.

**...**

**With Sol...**

The dark-skinned pilot arrived at the cafeteria and went straight for the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. He then sat at one of the tables at the end of the cafeteria.

"You're up early." a voice said to Sol, causing him to become tensed.

"I could say the same for you, Meia." Sol replied without looking up.

As Meia walked up to the table she saw the sweat slowly dripping down and his tense demeanor.

"Either the air conditioning in your room stopped working or you had a nightmare. My guess is the latter." she said as she sat down.

"And you're on point with that." Sol replied in a cold tone, "It's the same one that has been haunting me and Nevan since the last two weeks. It had stopped years ago but ever since after that battle where you got hurt it came back full force."

Taking a sip of his coffee, Sol noticed that the hand holding the cup was trembling slightly. He set the cup down, held the trembling hand and calmed himself. Meia noticed this too and looked at him in concern.

"That bad huh?" she asked and got a nod in return, "Want to talk about it?"

"No." Sol bluntly replied.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't want to bother you with my past life."

"Is that so? I seem to recall a certain man telling me to "get over my past before it gets me killed in the future..." Am I right?"

Sol sighed and looked up at Meia, who had an arrogant grin on her face.

"Smart ass...using my own words against me." He took another sip of his coffee before setting the cup down again. "Alright, fine. I'll bite...though be warned...it's not something you'll want to know about."

"I'll take my chances." Meia said.

**...**

**With Nevan...**

Nevan was occasionally dragging her feet and slumping against the wall like a zombie as she made her way to Reg Central.

She finally made it to her destination and managed to walk in properly before trudging towards a chair near the wall and sat in it while she leaned her head against the wall.

_'Why is that nightmare coming back? I thought we'd gotten over it all those years ago.' _

"Nevan? I never expected you to be up this early." a familiar voice spoke.

Nevan looked up to see Gascogne looking down at her while smirking.

"Woke up early and I couldn't get back to sleep." Nevan replied, "Thought I'd come here to get busy and keep my mind off things."

Seeing the lack of energy and lost look in the Nevan's eyes, Gascogne knew what was going on.

"You had a nightmare, right?" Gascogne asked.

"That obvious huh?" Nevan asked, "Yeah it was a nightmare alright, and one I thought we'd gotten over."

"We? You mean Sol had the same nightmare?"

"Yeah. We both had the same nightmare."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Sure."

Nevan got up and walked over to another table and sat in the chair on one side while Gascogne sat on the other side of the table.

"Better brace yourself then." Nevan said.

...

_They were both born to a family of nine. They had a sister who was the first born, Sol was the second born followed by Nevan by 3.5 seconds, then there were two boys and two girls after that. Their father was a retired colonel in the Koninklijke Luchtmacht also known as The Royal Netherlands Air Force, working as a commercial pilot. Their mother was a chef that owned a successful restaurant chain. Life was great. The family was very close to each other though the twins and their older sister were much more closer. They did so much together, hell even got into trouble a lot together. The trio gave their parents migraines with their antics and they only tolerated them because the twins were straight A students and the oldest child kept a 4.00 GPA._

_However as they grew older, the oldest sister began to grow further from the family. No one had any idea why and she wasn't even talking to anyone and when Sol and Nevan got her to talk she didn't say much except that she was very busy with college projects and their parents confirmed it with her teacher. After she graduated she just went off the grid, disappeared. At first everyone was worried about her but when she sent letters saying that she was working for an insurance company in Germany and was very busy so the family stopped worrying and wished her the best._

_Sol and Nevan had always dreamed of following in their father's footsteps and after training in the air force academy, they ended up drafting in the Koninklijke Luchtmacht like he did. However it was then that things went to hell. During a video call with the rest of the family, the twins watched as gunmen crashed the party and shoot down everyone. But that wasn't the end of it, it got worse as they saw that the leader of the group was none other than their big sister! She had a sick smile on her face as she talked to them about how her life had changed in Germany and how she decided to make a name for herself. She also said that they were next since they saw what happened to the family._

_Sol was enraged at this and he told her that she'd better pray that he doesn't find her or he'll make what she did look like child's play. Nevan was too shocked by what had transpired in front of her. It was thanks to this event that they became much closer and a bit more cautious of people. They told their superiors about what happened and even showed them the graphic video call and they got the police after her. It was later that they found out that their big sister had become a notorious arms dealer with a huge rap sheet that would make even the most die hard terrorists jealous. She had no loyalty to anyone and had no qualms about using everyone to get what she wants by any means necessary. Worse she had so many friends in high places to cover her tracks, making her very hard to find. They still managed to bring their trigger men to justice though but that wasn't enough._

_It was due to that event that the twins changed completely. Sol became cold, calm, calculating and serious. To the point that their squad mates were too afraid to approach him with the exception of Nevan of course. As for the twin sister, she became serious too and also very explosive with a short fuse to boot towards everyone except her brother._

_Years later Sol and Nevan ended up in NATO's Task Force 105 for handling peace keeping missions. Life was okay until disaster struck again and it was in the form of betrayal from one within their ranks. One of their wing men had been paid by their vile sister to kill them and make it look like a terrorist attack. Unfortunately for the asshole he failed as the Robben twins killed him after he spilled the beans. And after that incident, they left NATO and the Koninklijke Luchtmacht all together and became mercenaries. If there can be betrayal within NATO's ranks then it would be a matter of time before the bitch paid someone in the Koninklijke Luchtmacht to betray them too._

_So they began anew and made a name for themselves as a two-man squadron until they got employed by Martinez Security, but only after one of the superiors, Frederic Burford, managed to persuade them to join since they were very distrusting of people in general. They became part of the M42 Antares Squadron with Sol as the leader and Nevan as the second in command, along with two other pilots: Andy 'Jacare' Carlos, a man who had seen a lot of battle and betrayal like the twins and Catherine Anderson, a skilled pilot who was still naive about the horrors of war. The twins also met the Rigel Squadron that was also part of Martinez Security, and its leader a guy named Milosz Sulejmani. A man that gave Sol bad vibes just from their first meeting._

_However once again Sol and Nevan found betrayal again. When they were fighting a terrorist group known as Valahia, Rigel Squadron defected to the enemy after being bribed by the terrorist group's leader. Martinez joined a coalition force called the International Union Peacekeeping Force (IUPF) to deal with Valahia. Also Antares Squadron made sure that Milosz and his squad now called Varcolac Squadron, paid for their betrayal by handing them many defeats and destroying Valahia. However it didn't end there as there was more betrayal again and this was from the sponsor of the IUPF Andre Olivieri, CEO of Olivieri Life Insurance, whose insurance company narrowly survived the economic crisis some years earlier. Burford found out that Valahia were manipulated by Olivieri as part of some plot known as the Golden Axe Plan, whose ultimate purpose is allowing OLI to reap profits from the global increase in demand for war insurance. Since Martinez wouldn't let them deal with that greedy scum bag Burford and Antares Squadron left them IUPF to take him down. _

_However it seemed that life decided to throw another curve ball at us as Burford had also uncovered some more info but this one was especially for the twins. It looked like the vile bitch was providing weapons for the Golden Axe Plan and even provided OLI with new advanced aircrafts for Varcolac Squadron which were known as GAF-1 Varcolacs. It didn't matter as they still battled against the Golden Axe Plan Army and faced Varcolac Squadron one last time. Nevan, Catherine and Andy were able to shoot down the other three members of the traitorous squadron while Sol and Milosz fought in a gruesome dogfight where Milosz delusions drove him insane and made him even more dangerous but Sol still came out victorious at the end, leaving that crazy bastard in a fiery grave. After taking down Varcolac, Antares Squadron destroyed OLI once and for all and also killed Olivieri too in the process. However it seemed that their so-called sister had escaped once more. Fortunately Burford had contacts who managed to locate her and the twins decided to pay her a visit personally._

_Sol and Nevan found out that she had a family of her own and was living a luxurious life. Well no longer as the twins came in and gunned down her own family before they made her suffer a slow and painful demise fitting for a traitorous bitch like her. And with that the twins finally found the closure they wanted._

...

To say that Meia and Gascogne were surprised was an understatement. They couldn't believe that the twins went through that much in their life. Watching their family being murdered right before their eyes and finding out that your older sibling was behind it. Not only that, they had to deal with betrayal on more than one occasion by their own comrades and other people. No wonder why they reacted the way they did to Magno earlier when the crew first met the twins and also why they trusted few people.

For Meia it made what her mother's spirit told her before she left make sense. The twins lost their parents and their siblings all thanks to some monstrous person and with the constant betrayals they became completely different people. Sol became like her: very serious, cold, calm and a very good leader. Nevan however became an explosive woman with a short fuse. But one thing was still not right, she suspected that Sol didn't tell her everything but there was no way she could call him out on that so she left it at that.

Gascogne was calm after hearing Nevan's story but inside she was enraged at the vileness of the twin's older sister. While she was lucky that her relationship with her older sister was great she still couldn't believe that someone could be just so evil to do that to her own family and still keep trying to kill her remaining siblings for her own twisted goals. She was also glad that justice was served and the twins found closure.

...

"That's quite the story Nevan. Who ever thought that you two went through that in your lives?" Gascogne said.

"Life is known to be unfair to us and also has a nasty habit of throwing crazy things at you." Nevan replied, "Like it did for us...More than enough times."

"So...you two are actually satisfied with the end result? You're okay with the closure?" Gascogne asked.

Nevan put her hands behind her and smiled. "Oh yes! I'm more than satisfied that justice was served and glad with closure. Although..."

"Although what?"

"I wasn't okay with killing the rest of that woman's family." Nevan sighed, "I know that she killed our own and spent years trying to kill us. According to Sol, that was payback well deserved. "Karma" he said. I saw it as unnecessary but I understood what he was getting at."

"You didn't stop him?" Gascogne asked.

"I tried to stop him from killing the family but he didn't listen to reason. He was so consumed by revenge for what that woman did to us. He felt that he'd give her a taste of their own medicine and make her feel what we felt." Nevan answered.

"I see."

"Did you know that Sol wasn't always like this? He was much kinder, smart, full of energy and hot-headed. Just like Hibiki except the arrogance and fear of women."

Gascogne raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really? Sol was like Hibiki? That's a surprise. I always thought he was the way he was especially considering that you're both ex-military."

"Well that's how he was before we enrolled in the air force academy. I miss that side of him a lot. While he's still nice to me as a sibling I still don't completely see the twin brother I grew up with."

"So what of you? How were you before the academy?"

Nevan's cheeks turned pink as she turned her face away from Gascogne who looked at her in puzzlement.

"I was just like Dita."

"That I can believe." Gascogne said with a smirk, "In fact I can still see a bit of her in you when you're around Sol except it's more controlled."

"Well I can't keep acting like a lost puppy forever around him. We all have to grow up at some point and I had to do that so that it won't be a bother when we became pilots." Nevan stated.

Soon the women that worked in Reg Central began to show up for another day at the office. Gascogne got up from her seat and stretched herself before turning to Nevan.

"Well then thanks for talking to me Gascogne." Nevan said, "It felt good to get that off my chest."

"You're welcome Nevan. Now duty calls and I have work to do. You helping out?" Gascogne said.

"Of course. That's why I came here in the first place." Nevan answered and got up from her chair.

...

After Sol had told Meia about his past, there was silence in the cafeteria. Sol just kept drinking his coffee and not looking at Meia while the Dread Squadron leader was deep in thought. She was thinking back about what her mother told her about the Antares Squadron leader and after hearing his story she understood what she mentioned about him. However Meia still felt that something was still missing as if Sol left something out. She had no idea what it was and so she decided to leave it for another time.

"Did you know that I wasn't always like this?" Sol spoke up breaking the silence and bringing Meia out of her thoughts.

"Huh? What do you mean you weren't always like this?" Meia asked.

"I mean that I wasn't always this serious or cold or calm or calculating." Sol answered, "I was just like Hibiki when I was younger except without the arrogance and fear of women."

"Really?! I find that hard to believe that you were like that man." Meia said in surprise.

"Well I was like that. It was thanks to circumstances that I chose to grow up and become who I am." Sol said.

"You mean what happened to your parents and other siblings?" Meia said which he nodded at.

"Yes. And the betrayals too. All that made me and Nevan very careful about who we trust." Sol said, "Now you understand why Nevan and I reacted the way we did when Magno locked us up."

Meia gave an understanding nod. "I do understand but can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Are you sure that's all that's bothering you?"

Sol's face had an unreadable expression on it. Meia suddenly thought she had stepped on a landmine but she sighed in relief when Sol finally spoke up.

"Yes. I am sure that there's nothing else bothering me. The fact that I even told you about my past is a sign that I'm beginning to trust you which should be good news for you."

"Is that right? What of the others?"

"I haven't told the others about this because they haven't asked but I can say that I don't trust everyone yet. Except Duero, Jura funny enough, Gascogne, Ezra and to a certain extent Dita, BC and Magno."

"What about Nevan?"

"Most likely the same with a few more people she'd trust like the women at Reg Central."

"I see. Would you at least tell BC and the Captain? At least they need to know since they are our superiors."

Sol closed his eyes as he beagan thinking for a moment before he opened his eyes and looked at Meia.

"You have a point. I'll tell Nevan about it and we'll both tell them."

"Please do that." Meia said as she got up, "If you need anything I'll be in the planning room working on new formations."

Sol nodded. "Alright, thank you."

After Meia left the cafeteria, Sol put his hand in his pants' left pocket and brought out what seemed to be a photograph showing a man, a woman and a little girl sitting together and smiling. Sol sighed as he stared at the photo and a single tear dripped from both of his eyes.

"Amanda, Alida...I wish you two were still here." he muttered, "I...miss you both."

* * *

**Chapter 8 End.**

**I know that there is not much of a backstory for Antares One or the other squad members in the game so I decided to create one for Sol and Nevan.**

**So Sol and Nevan reveal their sad and chaotic past to a few people. But it seems that Sol is still hiding something else. Who are Amanda and Alida? And who is that man in the photo with them? What's their relationship to Sol?**

**Read & Review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Vandread: Dual Scorpions**

**AN: Warning! I'll be really going off from canon in this chapter. Some of you may not like it but this is how I want it to go. So read and see why. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Ace Combat: Joint Assault.**

**Chapter 9: Zero Tolerance**

* * *

The Nirvana was staying a good distance from an abandoned space station known as a Mission. The Mission were space stations that had been constructed during the Colonization Era of Earth and they served as temporary havens for travelers and as supply and trade depots. However this Mission in particular was abandoned and nothing more than a derelict by the time the Nirvana arrived. However Magno had ordered a group to go in for exploration and salvage of the station for supplies and parts for the ship and any information about the Harvesters.

The group that was sent consisted of Meia, Parfet, Jura, Barnette, Dita, Hibiki, Sol, Nevan and Pyoro.

...

"So that is what a Mission looks like? I've never seen one before." BC commented as she looked at the ancient space station through the viewing screen with Magno.

"I remember them from my youth. They prospered during the Colonization Era, serving as havens and supply depots for travelers and merchants." Magno explained, "However that time has gone and now it just stays there, let's hope we can find something useful from that thing."

...

Meanwhile in the Mission, Meia and Parfet were busy searching through the junks for something to salvage. Jura and Barnette were looking in another area of the station, Barnette looking for cooking supplies while Jura searched for new clothes for her wardrobe. Dita was listening to Pyoro's explanation of the Mission, Hibiki too was looking around and Sol and Nevan were on guard with a AA-12 and an FAMAS respectively.

"That's enough chatter you two. We've got a lot of work to do here and you're wasting time talking." Meia said to Dita and Pyoro, cutting off their talk.

"This is work? All you're doing is stealing!" Pyoro complained.

"We're not stealing...we're salvaging parts and equipment that is no longer being used. Besides this station is abandoned and no one lives here anymore, and we can use what we salvage for good use." Meia explained to the robot.

Suddenly Nevan turned around and clicked the safety off her FAMAS and looked up into the rafters and so did Sol with his AA-12 and turned around except he looked ahead. The twins looked around at first, and then Nevan quickly made some hand signs to her brother. Sol nodded and replied with his own hand signs.

"What's wrong you two?" Hibiki asked as he was confused by the twins' actions.

Nevan signaled to Hibiki and the others to be silent as Sol looked around for a moment and then gave his sister the signal to move out. Nevan nodded and turned to the others and spoke.

"I heard something people...We've got company."

Meia's eyes widened and she quickly pulled out her communicator to contact Jura and Barnette and warn them about another person on the Mission.

"I'll check it out." Hibiki volunteered.

"Alright. Go on. Sol and I will cover you. The rest of you stay here while we check it out." Nevan said.

The twins moved out in formation while covering Hibiki with their weapons while Pyoro followed them.

Hibiki and Pyoro moved towards the direction Nevan mentioned where she noticed something move. He arrived at the spot and began looking around. Whatever it was Nevan noticed jumped down from the support beam and landed in front of them.

"What the heck are you supposed to be?!" Hibiki asked in confusion.

The creature in front of them was an orangutan with red fur and judging by the clothing it was wearing, it appeared to be female. The orangutan first looked at Hibiki then ignored him and turned her attention to the floating robot and before Hibiki or Pyoro could react she dropped whatever she was carrying and leaped at the robot and tackled it and before the Tarak teen's eyes, the primate began to lick the Navi-robot all over much to Hibiki's confusion and Pyoro's absolute discomfort which it made known.

"AAAAUGGGHHHHH! STOP IT! THAT'S SO DISGUSTING!"

Luckily for the robot, a voice called out, "Knock it off, Utan!" The orangutan stopped what it was doing and ran off towards the person who called it, apparently its master and showed Pyoro to him. Hibiki turned his gaze towards where the voice came from.

Standing not far from them was a tall man who looked to be in his 30s. He had black hair tied in a pony tail. He had some stripes of tribal paint on his face and had an eye patch over his right eye. He was dressed in a tunic and pants with boots and the man was well built too.

Hibiki ran towards the stranger since he was glad that he is of the same gender however Hibiki stopped as he noticed something off about the man. He had an aura of a sneaky individual on him which made him weary after that.

"Who are you?" Hibiki asked. The newcomer doesn't reply as he attempted to grab the teen while drawing out his own gun, but the sound of a gun went off and a cut appeared on the stranger's cheek forcing him to back away a bit and go on a knee while his orangutan went to her master in concern.

"Hibiki get away from him!" a voice called out, snapping said person out of his shock and run to the person.

The stranger and his companion looked at the person that fired the weapon at him and saw Nevan aiming her FAMAS at him, barrel still smoking and glaring at him.

"Not bad pretty lady. But you need to work on your aim." the stranger said to Nevan.

"That was a warning shot you scumbag. If I wanted to, you'd be breathing through a new hole on your head." Nevan replied harshly, "Pretty low of you to use a hostage."

"So you're a woman?" The man asked as he stood up wiping the blood off his cheek.

"You've got a problem with that?" Meia coldly asked as she walked in pointing her laser ring at him while Parfet and Dita followed behind her.

"It's in my policy not to kill women." The man replied.

"Drop the bloody gun." Nevan ordered.

The man just looked on and was about to do something but the sound of a gun cocking behind him froze him on the spot.

"You heard her you piece of shit. Be glad she's the one who shot at you because if it was me you'd be dead!" Came a cold male voice behind him, "And by the way tell your pet to not try anything or you're both dead."

The man told his orangutan to not make a move which it obeyed as it was scared of the intimidating man behind her master. Barnette came up beside the man and took his gun from him while Jura also came up beside him with her sword at his neck.

"Nice of you to show up." Nevan said.

"Thanks to you I was able to outflank him." Sol replied, "You alright Hibiki?"

"Yes Sol...I'm okay." Hibiki replied.

Sol then turned his attention to the stranger, who for some reason was reminding him of someone and the very sight of him was really making him angry. "Now who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

The presence of the weapons and the unknown man behind him made the stranger realize that he had to tread carefully or get killed by the group around him. The man's lack of answer ticked Sol off as he aimed his AA-12 at the back of the man's head.

"Don't make me repeat myself fool!"

"The name's Rabat, I'm a trader and like you all I'm here to find supplies for my ship."

"Nice try asshole. You're no trader."

"What makes you say that?" Rabat asked.

"You look too well armed to be a trader and judging by the way you attempted to overpower Hibiki earlier, I'd say that you're well versed in unconventional tactics and besides no trader would attack anyone willingly unless in self-defense." Nevan said, "Or do you have anything to say to prove me wrong?"

"Okay so I'm not an average trader...so what?" Rabat asked calmly.

"What she meant was that you're more than what you let on fool!" Sol replied coldly.

Meia however frowned at the way this man was calmly talking even though he was surrounded from all sides by people with dangerous weapons especially Sol who was looking at him with murder in his eyes. But before she could wonder why, the sound of explosions and the Mission shaking got everyone's attention.

"Valkyrie to the Nirvana, what's going on?" Nevan contacted the bridge.

"The Harvesters are in the area Valkyrie...we need you all back ASAP!"

"Alright everyone! We've got some unwelcome guests to deal with. Let's move out!" Nevan said to everyone.

Everyone quickly made their way to their ships to deal with the Harvesters. Meia, Jura, Dita, and Barnette to their Dreads, Hibiki to his Vanguard, Sol and Nevan to their fighter jets and Parfet to the shuttle. Rabat and Utan too ran to the ship that was docked at the Mission. As they got in Utan showed Rabat something that made him smile. In the group's rush to leave the station they forgot something important.

...

The battle was in full swing as the Dread Squadron, The Vanguard and Antares Squadron were kicking ass and taking names, shooting down many Harvester ships like they were in a shooting gallery and defending the Nirvana too.

Moving away from the Mission, Rabat was in his own ship that resembled a small barge and yacht in one combo. He was about to leave but the sight of the Vanguard and the two other unique fighters he decided to stay and watch the battle.

As far as he knew the two unique were certainly not Dreads. The red one was bigger than the Dreads and still flew pretty quickly. However he was surprised when a compartment under the red fighter came down and a laser beam fired out from it and decimated a group of Cube fighters. The other fighter was grey in color with an orange cockpit. Rabat was once more surprised by this one as it suddenly vanished into thin air without leaving a trace. Even with his radar he couldn't track it then suddenly he saw a huge explosion as a large group of Cube fighters were consumed by a huge explosion and the grey fighter materializing back. Those two fighters were definitely interesting to the trader. Then Rabat turned his attention to the lone Vanguard which definitely did not look like the Vanguards of the men of Tarak but seemed to be holding its own. Then things got interesting as the blue Dread flew into the Vanguard resulting in a bright flash of light engulfing them and out came the giant Vandread Dita which evened the odds and began to wreak havoc on the Harvesters. Then it aimed its shoulder mounted cannons at the space station and destroyed it in a single blast and taking some enemies out too. Because of the that, the Harvester Forces not caught in the explosion were easily dispatched by the Dreads and Antares Squadron.

...

Rabat's eyes widened as he looked at the massive Vandread. That was no machine he had seen before and its sheer destructive power alone made the trader's eyes alight in excitement. His mind was already calculating the amount of money he'd make for the sale of not just the Dread and Vanguard but also the two unique fighters too.

"Did you see what I just saw Utan?" The orangutan nodded back in reply, "Then it looks like we've just hit the jackpot."

However his excitement was interrupted by explosions shaking his ship. He looked up to see some Harvester units that had not been around earlier. Rabat looked at his animal companion and nodded to it.

"Go ahead Utan, knock yourself out."

The female orangutan became excited as she rushed up to the back of the ship, and a few moments later a red humanoid mech came out of the top of Rabat's ship and went trigger happy, taking down the remaining Harvesters with bullets, missiles and lasers causing fireworks. Rabat ran his hand through his hair and groaned in frustration as he watched the ammunition decrease rapidly and after two minutes, the Harvesters were scrap metal but the mech was out of ammo.

"Damn...there goes last week's trade funds."

...

"What a shame... all that loot gone to waste." Magno said after watching the Mission get destroyed.

"Hey that's my line!" A male voice spoke out before the image of Rabat appeared.

"What do you want?" Magno asked as she looked at the trader in suspicion.

"My engine got damaged thanks to the fight you ladies started and my helping you take care of the stragglers. So what do you ladies intend to do about it?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Magno retorted, "We're pirates and we don't accept help from anyone!"

"Oh really? Then I guess you don't care about this little guy?" Rabat teased as Utan revealed Pyoro.

Dita gasped in shock, "Oh no! We left Pyoro behind!"

Magno sighed in frustration at the turn of events and reluctantly agreed to let the trader come aboard.

"I guess we have no choice...you may come aboard."

"All righty then. I'll be right there!" Rabat said, "And while I'm there maybe I'll do business on your ship."

As the image went off from the monitor, Meia, Dita, and Nevan noticed that Sol was gradually getting angrier as he made gestures to show his irritation and disgust for Rabat clear.

"Are you sure that's wise Captain?" BC asked, "We know nothing about this man, he could turn out to be a threat."

"I already know that he's a threat." Nevan said, anger clearly on her face, "He's someone who can't be trusted."

"Pyoro is one of our crew BC, Nevan..." Magno said before looking at her second in command with a smirk, "Besides if he tries anything funny we'll simply have to relieve him of all his wealthy possessions."

"I have a more permanent solution. And it's called a bullet to his god damned head!" Sol said as he made his way to the hangar to meet their 'guest' and surprising everyone.

_'Someone's going to die at the end of all this and I already have an idea who.' _Nevan thought.

...

As soon as he docked his ship, Rabat disembarked from his ship and before he knew it, he was greeted by the Nirvana's security team, all of which were very attractive women.

"Well now, this ship certainly has a lot of lovely young women on it." he quipped as he moved down towards the women, unfazed by the weapons trained at him. The man moved through the crowd of women handing them gifts. He then noticed Jura and Nevan standing off in the corner.

"Oh you're that lovely lady with the saber. Here's one for you." he said.

"I don't want one." Jura said immediately.

Rabat then turned to Nevan, "And here's one for you, feisty lady."

"How about one word for you...NO." Nevan replied crossing her arms across her chest.

"I insist. They'll look great on you." Rabat insisted to them.

"They said no, Rabat. Leave it at that."

Rabat turned and found himself looking at Sol who had his arms crossed and glaring at him with absolute disgust and hatred.

"You think you're a hotshot, huh?" Rabat asked, annoyed by Sol's interruption.

"No. I'm someone who can kill you without thinking twice about it. Which I know I can do since I've killed people for less." Sol replied coldly.

Rabat was surprisingly intimidated by the dark-skinned man in front of him. That aura of death around Sol he felt back at the station and the tone at which he talked told him that this was a man who would kill him without hesitation but still the trader didn't want to back down.

"What's your problem? I'm just doing business here."

"You. The sight of you makes me want to throw up right now and the only reason why you're not a corpse yet is because you're a guest on this ship. However if you screw up once...you're done."

"Is that a threat, hotshot?"

"No. It's a guarantee, dead man walking."

"That's enough."

Both men turned to see Meia who had her ring aimed right at Rabat. Considering what had happened earlier, the aqua-haired girl made it very clear that she was not in the mood.

"You're coming with me to see the Captain and don't even think about trying anything funny."

"Ah, yes ma'am."

"Just go already."

So Rabat was escorted away by Sol, Nevan and Meia while Parfet began chasing Utan to get Pyoro back, and running around an annoyed Jura.

...

"Ah so you're here." Magno said as Rabat stood in front of her.

"Yes, I am though I didn't have much of a choice now did I?" Rabat said while looking at Sol and Nevan, who had their .45 ACPs aimed at his back while Meia watched.

"Permission to shoot him, Captain?" Sol coldly asked.

"Pyoro's back with us so I see no reason for us to deal with him." Nevan added.

"No need to be rude Fenrir, Valkyrie." Magno hummed, "The man's our guest."

"Fenrir. Valkyrie." Rabat repeated before returning his attention to the captain, "Aren't most of your crew women?"

"Yes." Magno answered, "The men you've seen here are from Tarak. They are all prisoners of war and temporary members of my crew. We women are from Mejere however."

"So what about those two?" Rabat asked nodding his head towards the Robben twins.

"I'm Fenrir." Sol began before Magno could explain.

"And I'm Valkyrie." Nevan said, "We're the Antares Squadron and we assist in the defense of the ship when it's under attack."

"And as for where we come from...that's classified, in other words...none of your damned business!" Fenrir finished.

"And they're both very efficient pilots." Magno added, "So what exactly do you want from us?"

"Not much really, I just want to make some repairs to my ship and maybe do a little business with you while I'm here since I'm a trader." Rabat answered.

Magno looked at him hard and nodded, "I see no problem with that, however, cause any trouble on this ship and you'll be removed from here, understood?"

"Yes Ma'am. Now that that's settled where would be a good place for me to start my repairs and set up my shop too?" Rabat asked.

"I'll have BC show you." The captain answered.

BC walked over to Rabat and told him to follow her, leaving the bridge. After they left Sol turned to Nevan who already had an idea about what he wanted to ask.

"Want me to hack into his ship's data archives and find out what I can about him? Already ahead of you brother."

"You read my mind, sister."

With that, Nevan left the bridge to do some digging while Sol turned to Magno.

"You know that he's up to something, don't you?" he asked.

"He definitely has his own agenda." Magno answered before looking at a deck of tarot cards and pulling the top card out, "The Hermit huh? An outsider, a mystery, someone who is not to be trusted."

"It doesn't matter what he is." Sol said as he walked to the exit of the bridge, "A bullet to the head works the same way."

...

Rabat had set up shop and was already making profit as he sold his goods to the women. Meia looked on in wariness, not liking the way her crew members were fawning over the goods Rabat had with him, along with the things he spoke of about his knowledge of men and women. He may be charming but life on the streets of Mejere helped her see otherwise.

Also she still couldn't understand why Sol was so hostile around Rabat. She had seen his demeanor change ever since they met the trader at the Mission, not to mention looking at him with murder in his eyes.

And speaking of Sol, the Antares Squadron leader walked in beside her to watch Rabat as he still went on with his work. And he was still with that murderous look in his eyes.

"I take it that you don't trust him at all."

"That's an understatement. The sight of him alone just pisses me off, not to mention he has "con man" written all over him."

The two studied the obvious con man for a while before Sol spoke out to her.

"He wasn't even surprised when the Harvesters attacked. I watched his ship during the battle and he didn't even come out to help, merely observed the whole thing, as if he had seen this before. Besides he's obviously hiding something. I've got Nevan looking for dirt on him. The sooner we find out what he's hiding the sooner we get rid of him."

_'More like he has an ulterior motive for being here and it's obviously the Vandread and me and Nevan's jets.'_

He then spotted Parfet excitedly buying engine parts and power couplings from Rabat and alone that immediately raised red flags for the mercenary pilot. That man was definitely trouble and he reminded him of someone he knew and hated so much that he wanted to just kill him right then and now and be done with it but since he's a 'guest' and Sol wanted proof before he took action. So he had to stay his hand. For now.

...

BC was in the hangar inspecting Rabat's ship when the door slides open and in comes the trader.

"Looking for something?" he asked.

"Your ship shows no signs of battle damage anywhere." BC said as she faced him.

"I was able to finish the repairs faster than expected" Rabat told her as he walked closer.

BC looked at him in suspicion, "What are your real intentions?"

"Just finishing up some trading business, that's all." Rabat said cooly as he grabbed her chin, "In the mean time, how about we go somewhere a little more private so we can get to know each other better?"

BC only gave him a smirk as a response before Rabat noticed something was off.

"Wait a minute, that smell..." he muttered, taking his hand off BC's chin, "Maybe we'll take a rain check on that." Rabat starts backing up nervously and decides to head somewhere else.

Later he arrived at the Hangar and saw where the Vanguard and the two advanced fighter jets were docked. He was amazed by the design of the two planes that he could tell were definitely designed with advanced tech than what was used on planes at that time especially the COFFIN system, Fenrir's optical camouflage and the FALKEN's Tactical Laser System.

However they were not close to the Vanguard that was capable of combining with the Dread to form the Vandread he saw and he knew that it and those two planes were one hell of a find and now he wanted to check the Vanguard's cockpit to figure out the system that enables the transformation.

However, as he made his way closer to the Vanguard, someone else came on the scene to interrupt him.

...

Nevan was busy digging up information on Rabat. She was having difficulty getting past the security system, which she admits was but nothing she couldn't handle. That meant that Rabat had something important that he didn't want anyone else to see. After getting past the system, she looked at the information in front of her. She wasn't surprised with what she saw. It turned out Rabat sold nothing but junk and defective goods to ships and various other planets.

The real kicker that got the woman's eyes widening in shock and horror was that this man is an agent for the Harvesters and he secretly gave information about those planets and ships to them where they later go and raze and harvest for certain organs from the unfortunate people. Rabat was nothing but a a traitor to the whole human race!

The betrayal by her older sister, the traitorous wingman at NATO, Sulejmani and Rigel Squadron, and Olivieri were already bad enough, but this one was much worse than them all together. Hell he topped them by a whole lot more.

_'Ik ben niet verkeerd over iemand gaat sterven aan het einde van dit alles en nu is het over te geschieden . Rabat u verraderlijke klootzak, je hebt net getekend je doodvonnis.' __**(1)**_

Yes, Nevan was insanely pissed but she couldn't wait to show this to Sol, whom she knew will be out for blood. She wasted no time as she copied all the data into a flash drive and went to look for her brother.

...

Sol was in the twin's quarters, coming out of the bathroom after washing his face to calm himself. Rabat reminded him too much of the man that he hated with every fiber of his being for what he did before Sol brutally executed him. He was cut from his thoughts when Nevan came in and showed him the data she dug from Rabat's archives and needless to say, Sol had a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

"Gefeliciteerd Rabat ! Je bent een dood man." **(2)** Sol said.

...

Right now in the hangar, Dita was standing in front of the Vanguard with her arms out trying to stop Rabat from getting any closer to it. However the conman was trying to charm his way past her.

"C'mon what's the problem?" Rabat asked her smoothly, "I'm only taking a quick peek."

"No! This is Mr. Alien's partner!" Dita cried, shaking her head.

"Please?"

"I said no! No one but Mr. Alien can pilot it so leave it alone!"

"Aw come on, I'm not going to steal it little missy."

"I said no!"

Rabat sighed in frustration at the redhead's stubbornness before he suddenly got serious.

"Step aside. What are you to him anyway? He's a man of Tarak and as far as I know I don't think he sees you in a special kind of way. More like an enemy." he said.

"No!" Dita once more said.

Rabat leaned in closer to kiss her but he was interrupted by Hibiki showing up and yelling at him to stay away from her.

"And just when things were getting good." Rabat said as he looked down at Hibiki, "You're a really annoying brat, you know that?"

"Like you have the right to call yourself a man! Is that eye of yours working right?" Hibiki snapped.

"Sure is." Rabat said as he pointed at his left eye and then lifted the patch to reveal a completely healthy right eye, "And so's this one!"

Hibiki growled in anger, "Why you! You have worn out your welcome here, so get the hell out of here already!"

"And if I don't?" Rabat challenged.

"Then I'll throw you out myself!" Hibiki said immediately.

"Interesting." Rabat said as he jumped off the Vanguard's platform towards Hibiki with a mocking expression on his face.

Hibiki snapped at that and recklessly charged at him, but Rabat merely smiled as his eyepiece emitted a blinding light stopping the teen in his tracks, long enough for Rabat to knee him in the stomach.

"You cheater." Hibiki groaned.

"What's that?" Rabat asked him scratching the inside of his ear, "Sorry my ears aren't working so good."

He grabbed Hibiki by his head and lifted him off the ground, "I don't know who put those ideas into your head, but if you're going to challenge me don't do it with someone else's words!"

Rabat reared his fist back and dropped Hibiki at the same time throwing his arm forward and punching Hibiki in the face, sending him flying back to the floor. Hibiki slowly got back up as Rabat continued to taunt him.

"I gotta say." Rabat began, "There's nothing funnier than a clueless know it all trying to act tough. No matter how much they try to hide it the truth always comes out and you're no exception."

"Shut your mouth!" Hibiki growled charging at him again, but Rabat sidestepped him and grabbed the back of his head before slamming him to the floor, "Men who are truly strong pick their own words to standby and fight with…against a million proverbs" Rabat began hitting Hibiki again and again as he continued to lecture him in being a man.

"A single word from your heart will always win in the end."

Hibiki fell at Rabat's feet and Dita cried out for it to all end, distracting Rabat allowing Hibiki to bite at his leg.

Rabat screamed as the boy's teeth sank into his leg, "Get off me you brat" he yelled in rage as he kicked Hibiki's head forcing him off.

"That's it" Rabat shouted as he got up just as Dita rushed to Hibiki, "Get out of the way" he yelled to the redhead as he kicked her to the side and then stepped on Hibiki's head, "I'm going to finish you right now!"

Rabat then began to crush Hibiki's skull. However he gets grabbed around his neck from behind and thrown backwards to the floor. After that landing he got up on all fours before he got kicked in the face sending him rolling away. Everyone turned to see Sol looking at Rabat with a blood thirsty smile and holding a titanium bat in his right hand.

"I was waiting for you to show your true colors." Sol said as he continued walking to his prey, "And a traitorous bastard like you did not disappoint me. Why do I always end up with traitors?"

Rabat groaned as he got to his feet but got no time to react as Sol rushed at him and kicked him in the stomach, putting him down again.

"Worse you stoop so low to hit an adolescent. How pathetic, though considering what you've done, that's an understatement!" Sol shouted, "You sell worthless junk and faulty parts to human-filled worlds and sell those planets and their people out! You're a gutless traitor to humanity who doesn't deserve to live! Well congratulations! I'm your executioner, bastard!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rabat barely said, "I just want to settle accounts with that kid who's been-"

"You have no right to speak you pathetic excuse for a human!" Sol growled as he cut off whatever Rabat wanted to say with another blow from the bat and began to beat the man senseless.

"NO, NO! Please stop!"

By now Nevan and the other Nirvana crew members came into the hangar and were shocked at seeing Sol brutally beating Rabat with a titanium bat.

"Not so tough when on the receiving end of a beating huh?" Sol taunted as he continued beating the man all over. "For a gutless traitor who sells junk, cons people out of their own hard earned savings, and betrays the human race...you're worse than pathetic as a fighter especially against someone who fights back." He then stomped on Rabat's right knee, shattering the knee cap and grinding it under the sole of his boot as the man screamed in pain.

Rabat managed to look up at Sol in defiance as he continued to deny everything.

"Like I said...I have NO IDEA what you're talking about!" he shouted out.

Wrong answer as Sol stomped on the other knee and shattered it too.

"AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!"

"BLOODY LIAR! I looked at the data in your ship that I had Valkyrie retrieve while you were doing 'business' and had her copy aLL the information in them...including the data concerning your special clients, the ones who pay you a huge amount of money for every human world you visit, and not just to trade but to sell them out for the enemy. I'm talking about the Harvesters you work for! You gutless traitor!" Sol shouted, "Another thing, I know that you are here to gather data about the Nirvana, its crew, the Dreads, the Vanguard, the Vandread and our fighter jets to sell to your masters. Am I wrong? If so please try to prove it!"

The brutal beating continued with everyone looking in shock at the normally calm and collected Sol beating a man with such savage brutality. For many of the crew members they had not seen Sol so angry and brutal like this before so this was a first for them. However for Nevan she had seen this a few times.

The first was when they were in high school when a senior bullied her. Sol snapped and beat the boy up to an inch of his life and nearly got expelled from school for it. The second was when three thugs tried to mug him in an alley, he found a steel pipe that was lying around and brutally beat the thugs down. Luckily he only ended up with community service for that. The third was when they finally found their traitorous sister. After giving her family quick deaths, Sol proceeded to cut off every finger on both hands, crushed both feet, shattered the knee caps and elbows, break some ribs and unloaded ten clips of M-16 ammo on her before he was satisfied. Borderline overkill.

As for Sol as he was beating on the mangled form of Rabat, he was seeing nothing but red and a certain fat bastard who betrayed him too and took something very precious from him while laughing at him. As he landed more blows on the man he kept seeing that bastard which made him increase the tempo and keep the brutality going.

Meia was the first to break out of her horror and fired her laser ring near him to stop the brutal beatings.

"Sol that's enough! You're killing him!" She shouted at him and gasped as she saw the look on his face that showed rage, blood lust and sadness? on it.

"This man committed crimes so vile that it makes serial killers look tame! He betrayed the whole human race and sold out planets that had men, woman and children on it to those genocidal bastards known as Harvesters!" Sol shouted getting gasps and shocked looks from everyone but Nevan, Magno and BC who had seen the data she dug up. Meia wasn't shocked as much as she had suspected that he was up to something but never imagined it being on this scale. "I'm just simply giving this abominable bastard what he deserves!"

He then unholstered his .45 ACP and fired a single round into the man's head, killing him instantly.

"And the sentence is death." Sol coldly said.

It was then that Utan appeared, while chasing Pyoro who managed to make his way free of the female orangutan. The female creature then spotted the corpse of Rabat and looked at the crowd of people before finding out who her master killer's was. The orangutan charged at the mercenary and leapt at him but got shot in the head while in midair before landing lifelessly near her dead master.

"How unfortunate. I may have made her species extinct." Sol deadpanned without a care in the world before he began to walk out of the hangar, leaving a silent, stunned and horrified Nirvana crew and a worried Nevan staring at his back before he finally left the hangar and then she and Meia went after him.

* * *

**Chapter 9 End.**

**1.** **_'I'm not wrong about someone going to die at the end of all this and now it's about to come to pass. Rabat you traitorous bastard, you've just signed your death warrant.'_****  
**

**2. "****Congratulations Rabat! You're dead man."**

**Okay I know some people are going to go bananas about this but like I mentioned earlier you've been warned about the story going a little off from canon. In all honestly I hated the traitorous bastard myself.**

**Sol and Nevan have been victims of betrayal on more than multiple occasions. It's not because they're naïve, it's more like bad luck thanks to circumstances beyond their control. As for Sol a traitor like Rabat was too much for him or Nevan to ignore though Sol decided to take action and take it to the extreme. It all seems that Sol has a side of him that's completely different from what the others are used to.**

**Also who's the man that Sol saw as he went bat shit crazy. What did he take from him? Later on it'll be revealed.**

**Also how would Sol's actions affect the crew?**

**So thanks to the actions of Fenrir, some events in cannon would occur differently and some more characters would show up.**

**Read & Review. **


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